INTERVIEW: Increasing efficiency can cut emissions from India's coal power plants

With exponential growth anticipated in Indian power demand this decade, the addition of new coal-fired power plants looks inevitable, leading to higher emissions from electricity generation. In such a scenario, proper power plant planning, installing efficient equipment and using modern technologies can go a long way in ensuring minimum harm to the environment, Santhosh CS, CEO of Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Ltd. told S&P Global Commodity Insights.

NUPPL is a joint venture between NLC India Ltd, a coal and lignite mining firm under the Indian federal government, and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd., which is the state-run power producer of the Uttar Pradesh province in northern India.

NUPPL is setting up a 1,980 MW coal-based power plant in Ghatampur, Uttar Pradesh at a cost of Rupee 19,406 crore ($2.34 billion) and the first 660 MW unit is expected to generate power by the end of this year. When all three units become operational, the plant will supply 1,478.28 MW to Uttar Pradesh and 492.72 MW to Assam in northeastern India.

"We have used supercritical technology which runs on high temperature, high-pressure environment that ensures minimum waste and high efficiency," Santhosh said in the interview.

He added that "we are also using the selective catalytic reactor technology for cutting NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions, which is not currently available in many plants in India".

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, reported earlier (opens in a new tab)citing the Central Electricity Authority's 'optimal generation capacity mix for 2029-30' report that 16.21 GW of coal-based capacity needed to be added in India over and above the 26.90 GW of plants currently under development to meet electricity demand requirement in the financial year 2029-2030 (April-March).

India's coal requirement projection for power production in FY 2029-30 has been revised to 1.02 billion mt from its earlier proposal of 892 million mt. At the same time, India is expected to produce around 1.5 billion mt of coal in the financial year 2029-30. Nevertheless, the share of coal in India's power generation is seen to fall from 74% to about 54% by 2030, thanks to the rising share of renewable energy sources.

Miners eyeing diversification

The Ghatampur power project aligns with the advisories from the federal coal ministry, where it was suggested that state-run subsidiaries take up "large-scale diversification".

The ministry recently said in a statement that the "Ministry of Coal has realized that coal is going to be in surplus in the years to come, therefore, the subsidiaries of CIL (Coal India Ltd.) and NCLCIL and SCCL (Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.) should set up new thermal power plants for sustainability in the operations".

Uttar Pradesh was the second largest power-consuming state in India in the financial year 2022-23 (April-March), with requirements for 144.3 billion kWh and an electricity shortage of 1.2 billion kWh.

"NUPPL's power generation costs are lower because of better equipment in use, enabling it to supply power at a levelized tariff of Rupee 5.34/kwh for 25 years," Santhosh said. The plant is also installing FGD (flue gas desulfurizer) systems to cut SOx (sulfur oxides) emissions to comply with the mandate from the federal ministry of environment, forest and climate change. At present, only 22 units in nine power plants with a total capacity of 9.3 GW have installed and operationalized FGDs in their facilities. All power plants in India must have FGDs by end-2026, the mandate showed.

"The facility is zero liquid discharge to ensure no water wastage with maximum recyclability," Santhosh said. Water consumption in new power plants in India range between 1.79 cubic meter/MWh and 4.51 cubic meter/MWh.

"We have spent Rupee 495 crore to line the Bidhnu canal to source water from the Ganges River 27 km away," Santosh pointed out.

NUPPL is also looking for land to set up 800 MW of solar plants as per the federal power ministry mandate, which stated that all coal-fired plants commissioned after March 2023 will have to install renewable energy projects of at least 40% capacity of the thermal power plant.

"We have signed an MOU with JK Cement for total utilization of fly ash from our plant," Santhosh added.

Coal supply

The power plant has been allocated to the Pachhwara South coal mine located in the state of Jharkhand in east India, with the mine expected to start operations in the ongoing financial year 2023-24. "If we get coal from Pachhwara, we will need over 7 million mt/year," Santhosh said, adding that the company is not exploring the option of importing coal. The coal mine produces "G-10" grade coal with a calorific value between 4,300-4,600 kcal/kg GAR.

The coal block should reach its peak mining capacity in the financial year 2027-28, according to the latest minutes of the meeting of the federal coal ministry's committee responsible for allocating domestic coal to power plants, seen by S&P Global. Until the Pachhwara block is operationalized, the committee's recommendation for the state-run CIL includes a supply of coal to the plant for one year from the time the plant starts running. CIL stated that it can supply coal to the Ghatampur plant, however, also added that "the coal shall be of any grade/from any source as per the availability."