THERMAL POWER PLANTS – ENVIRONMENT
News: India
asks utilities to import 6% of coal for 9 months
What's in the news?
● Coal
accounts for more than 70% of India's power generation, with coal-fired plants
accounting for more than three quarters of India's use of the polluting fuel.
● Energy
demand has increased sharply and it is expected to remain at an increased level
during the first half of 2023/24.
Thermal power plants:
● India
has around 20 coal-fired thermal plants with capacities of 2000 MW or above
while the average energy efficiency of these plants is a mere 32.8 percent.
● Thermal
utilities, which produce 75% of the
country's power, account for some 80% of industrial emissions of sulphur and
nitrous-oxides, much of the coal produced in the country is of a relatively
inferior grade. Only a small part of India's coal reserves is of the anthracite
variety, with the rest being of the bituminous, lignite or peat genres
Emission from coal burning:
● India
is the world's second largest producer
of coal and ranks third in global emissions from coal mining. Emissions are
estimated to be 22 MtCO2e in 2020 and are expected to reach 45 MtCO2e in 2050.
● Coal-based
thermal power stations with no pollution control technology are responsible for
over half sulphur dioxide (SO2), 30
percent oxides of nitrogen (NOx), about 20 per cent particulate matter (PM),
among other man-made emissions in the country.
● Only
40 per cent of India's total coal power capacity of 211.6 GW have been awarded
bids for installing FGD while another 4 per cent have already installed it,
according to government data.
Why is decarbonizing the power sector important?
● Decarbonizing
the power sector will help India achieve its net-zero emissions since it is the
single largest source (about 40%) of India’s greenhouse gas emissions.
● Till
now, India has focused only on expanding renewable electricity capacity. For
instance, 175GW of renewable capacity by 2022 and 450GW of renewable capacity
by 2030.
● But
India should also aim at limiting the expansion of coal-based electricity
capacity. Coal accounts for roughly 75% of the electricity today.
Initiatives to cut emissions:
1.
Installation of emission capture technologies:
● India
had initially set a 2017 deadline for thermal power plants to install flue gas desulphurization (FGD)
units to cut sulphur emissions.
2. Commitment in Glasgow summit:
● India
is now committing itself to at least 45% reduction in emissions intensity of
GDP (emissions per unit of GDP) from 2005 levels.
● The
existing target was a 33% - 35% reduction.
● India
is also promising to ensure that at least 50% of installed electricity
generation capacity in 2030 would be based on non-fossil fuel-based sources.
● This
is an increase from the existing 40% target.
3. Propagate biomass co-firing:
● The
Ministry of Power (MOP) set up a National Mission on the use of Biomass in
thermal power plants in July last year named as SAMARTH Mission.
● In
September 2019, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had clarified that
power generated from co-firing of biomass in thermal power plants is renewable
energy and is eligible for meeting non-solar Renewable Purchase Obligation
(RPO).
● Substituting
5-7 percent of coal with biomass in coal-based power plants can save 38 million
tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions
● About
80525 MT of biomass has been co-fired in 35 Thermal power plants in the country
with a cumulative capacity of 55335 MW till 24th July 2022.
4. Conversion of coal to methanol:
● NITI Aayog's 'Methanol
Economy' programme is aimed at reducing
India's oil import bill, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and converting coal
reserves and municipal solid waste into methanol.
● Methanol
is a low carbon, hydrogen carrier fuel produced from high ash coal,
agricultural residue, CO2 from thermal power plants and natural gas.
5. Greening initiatives:
● The
Ministry of Coal seeks to bring more than 2400 hectare of area in and around
coalfields under green cover.
● It
has been aimed to plant more than 50
lakh saplings for the year 2022-23.
Concerns:
1. Slow pace of adoption of pollution control
technologies:
● Seven
years after the first notification for thermal power plants to control the
emission level of S02 within prescribed standards, the percentage of plants
that have installed FGDs remains negligible.
2. Extension of deadlines even availability of
technology:
● The
process of eliminating sulphur compounds from the exhaust emissions of fossil-fueled
(coal-fired) power plants is known as flue gas desulphurization (FGD).
● This
is accomplished by including absorbent materials, which can eliminate up to 95%
of the sulphur from the flue gas by scrubbing.
3. Extension leads to delay the achievement of
emission targets:
● It
could potentially dent India’s emission targets. The deadlines needed to be met
earlier as the further increase in SO2 emissions will further dampen the
current air pollution scenario, resulting in a double whammy with current
climate catastrophes being witnessed across our cities at the moment.
4. The extension will lead to health impacts:
● As
per the Lancet report, so much of pre- matured deaths in India are due to Air
pollution.
Challenges in adoption of technologies:
1.
The minimum time period required for FGD
commissioning of 36-42 months.
2.
There is limited availability of vendors and that there is a price escalation factor too due to the
limited supply of components.
3.
According to the Ministry, the COVID-19
pandemic had an impact on the supply chain and manpower availability. Two
years ago, an association of power producers had written a letter to the Prime
Minister’s Office seeking more time for the installation of FGDs and raised the
issue of supply disruptions in China, pointing out that only 20-30% of
emissions-reducing components are manufactured in India and the country is
dependent on China.
4.
Despite the push for alternative sources of power, major production of
electricity in India is achieved through coal-based
thermal power plants which account for 70% of the country’s total power
generation. Hence, the Strict norms will hamper the energy security of
India.
WAY FORWARD:
1.
Install carbon capture utilization and
storage:
● As
the only means of imposing deep cuts on fossil fuel CO2 emissions, carbon
capture utilization and storage (CCUS) should represent the ultimate goal for
India’s coal fleet.
● CCUS
is the process of capturing waste carbon
dioxide, transporting it to a storage site and depositing it where it will not
enter the atmosphere.
2. Phase out old power plants:
● The
IEACCC study recommended retirement of old coal-fired power stations to limit
pollution and improve fleet efficiency.
3. Improve fleet technology and efficiency, renovate
and modernize:
● India
has one of the youngest coal fleets in the world, with around 64 percent of the
capacity (132 GW) less than a decade old.
● Maintaining
efficiency of this large fleet will be crucial as it is going to be operational
for at least the next 15-20 years.
● The
government’s renovation and modernization policies need to play a key role in
maintaining the efficiency of this fleet.
4. Increase renewable energy capacity:
● Increasing
India’s renewable electricity generation can help further the cause to
accelerate the retirement of old and inefficient plants.
5. Regulatory mechanism:
● Independent
and statutory power regulatory commission is a need of the system to enable the
thermal power plants to strictly adhere
to the emission standards.