NTPC plant at Kayamkulam returns to the grid after five and a half years, running a gas turbine on methanol
5 November 2026
The Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Plant at Kayamkulam, run by NTPC, has fed power into the grid again. Its Gas Turbine-2 (GT-2) was synchronised after lying idle for nearly five-and-a-half years. The turbine was first fired on high-speed diesel (HSD) and then switched to methanol. During the trial, the turbine ran on methanol for about three-and-a-half hours, touching a maximum load of 40 MW. Around 100 MW of electricity went to the state grid during the run. The plant can now run on naphtha, LNG or methanol, an NTPC official said. The trial is a step in testing methanol as an alternative fuel for power generation.
Unit:
Gas Turbine-2 (GT-2)
Maximum load on methanol:
40 MW
Power sent to the State grid:
100 MW
Idle period:
five-and-a-half years
Why it matters for exams: The Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Plant at Kayamkulam is the NTPC station in Kerala, and methanol as an alternative fuel is a Science and Technology and energy topic in Kerala PSC and UPSC papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC