Green can make NTPC one of the most efficient power companies in the world

NTPC is the largest power generation company in India. Forbes Global 2000
for 2008 ranked it 411 in the world. Listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, NTPC
is an Indian public sector company whose core business is engineering,
construction and operation of power generating plants and providing consultancy
to power utilities in India and abroad. Dinesh Kumar, who heads the IT function
at NTPC talks about how the giant power company is looking at Green in a serious
way. Excerpts

How committed is NTPC to Green and the environment?

We have been in this business of generating power for the past three decades
or more, and over the years have become one of the biggest players in the power
sector. By the sheer nature of our work, we are often seen as a polluter, but we
have been making strenuous efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. In fact,
there is a core team that looks into the environment aspects of the company. We
lay special emphasis on conservation, as our motto is that energy saved is
energy generated.

What have been the steps taken on green by your department?

From my side, we have made our humble contributions to the greening efforts.
We are looking at all aspectsfrom data center to desktop. For instance, one of
the biggest projects that we undertook was a consolidation of all our data
centers across the length and breadth of the country; into a central location.
This new data center incorporates the latest technologies in terms of energy
efficiency. We are currently in the process of consolidating our storage as well
into a central repository. Another aspect that we have keenly worked is to
reduce paper usage within the company. In the next 2-3 years we intend to reduce
it by say 70%.

What is the spread and size of NTPC?

NTPC is the largest power company in India. We currently generate some 30000 mW
of electricity and intend to ramp it up to 75,000 mW by 2020. Mostly the power
generated by us is coal- and gas-based. We also have some hydro projects in
different parts of the country and are also looking at nuclear in the coming
future. As of now, we have twenty-three power stations across India, and some
6-8 sites for hydro/thermal projects. Currently, our work-force stands at some
25,000 people.

Do you think that green IT is a hype? How can your department take a lead
in the greening effort?

When it started some years back, the whole notion of green IT was merely a
hype created by various vendors but now the whole technology is maturing and it
cannot be termed as hype anymore.

As for the role of IT, since NTPC is committed to going green we are doing
the best we can to aid the process. IT can monitor the success of various drives
and since NTPC is also looking at CDM, etc, we also have a bigger role in the
whole effort.

Shashwat DC

shashwatc@cybermedia.co.in