As a leading player in the world energy sector, NTPC recognized the potential of cutting edge technology in further improving its services and efficiency. The company is fully aligned to the needs of adapting to emerging technologies and upgrading the technologies through research and development. The company is particularly sensitive to Research & Development and the paradigm shift which it can make. NETRA (NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance) set up in 2009 is the outcome of this vision.
The focus areas of NETRA are - Efficiency Improvement & Cost Reduction; New & Renewable Energy; Climate Change & Environmental protection which includes water conservation, Ash utilization, carbon capture, and utilization & Waste Management. NETRA also provides Advanced Scientific Services to its stations and other utilities in the area Non-Destructive Examination (NDE), Metallurgy & Failure analysis, Oil/water chemistry, Environment, Electrical, Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD), etc. for efficient and reliable performances. NETRA laboratories are ISO 17025 accredited
NETRA R&D activities are constantly guided and steered by the Research Advisory Council (RAC) comprising of eminent scientists and experts from India and abroad. Padma Bhushan Dr. V.K. Saraswat, former Secretary, DRDO, and member of NITI Aayog is the Chairman of RAC. In addition, the Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) having Functional Director, Director(Operations) and other senior NTPC officials as members gives direction for improving plant performance & reducing cost of generation
The key expertise lies in providing scientific support to stations for improving their life, performance and developing technologies for clean & economic power generation for the sustainable growth of power sector.
The focus is both on in-house technology development as well as collaborative research. NETRA have networked with various prestigious national and international institutions to harness the specialized knowledge and expertise lying with those institutes. By collaborating with various institutes we have been successful in promoting research in the field of Ash Utilization, Hydrogen, Carbon Capture, Sensors CFD, Robotics, Drones, Renewables, Environment, NDE and Water chemistry, etc. NETRA has collaborations with National Institutes such as IIT-Delhi, IIT –Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT –Kanpur, IIT –Kharagpur, IIT Dhanbad, IISc-Bangalore, RGIPT-Amethi, CSIR lab’s such as IIP- Dehradun, CMERI- Durgapur, CGCRI- Kolkata, CBRI-Roorkee, etc. NETRA have also collaborated with international institutions such as NETL-USA, Curtin University-Australia; Newcastle University-Australia, VGB-Germany, DLR-Germany, ISE-Germany etc.