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India’s Adani, NTPC push back on emissions deadlines
INDIA
TWO of India’s largest generators, privately owned Adani Power and state NTPC, are trying to delay the installation of flue-gas desulphuri- sation (FSG) hardware at some coal-fired power plants.
The two companies have requested deadline extensions from the Indian Environment Minis- try, according to a Reuters report.
The two companies blamed costs, technical difficulties and changes of ownership for their inability to meet the government’s timetable for installing FSG equipment in a bid to cut pollu- tion and lower CO2 emissions.
The Indian Environment Ministry, which is much harder on coal-fired generators than the more pro-coal Power Ministry, had previously extended the original December 2017 deadline for new emissions standards.
The new timetable calls for phased improve- ments between the end of 2019 and 2022, meaning that some power plants will miss the deadlines.
Adani Power wants to extend the deadline for the Raikheda power plant to 2023, while state-run NTPC has asked for an extension for its Bongaigaon power plant. Up to 50% of India’s coal-fired generating fleet is set to met the retrofit deadlines for FSG technology.
Coal accounts for 75% of India’s power gener- ation, according to the 2018 BP Statistical Review of Energy, accounting for 80% of India’s indus- trial emissions, Reuters said.
The pro-coal Ministry of Power has already stated that it wants to extend the deadlines for some financially troubled power plants.
Indeed, with many coal-fired power plants in financial difficulty because of high debt and low, fixed tariffs, generating companies are unable to afford the installation of emissions-cutting technology.
Coal remains a key source of power for India, despite the government enthusiasm for renewa- bles that has led to their setting a 450-GW target for green energy by 2050. The country needs coal to support economic growth and to provide uni- versal access to power.
“Reduction of coal is not a one-day process. We have a plan in place. A long-term plan where we will replace coal with renewable energy slowly to achieve the goal announced by the prime minister to reach 450 GW. But plants which are already coal-based will continue to consume coal,” Indian Environment Secretary C K Mishra told a recent IPCC Working Group III meeting in New Delhi.
India is the world’s third-largest consumer of coal behind the US and China, while state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) is the single largest coal pro- ducer in the world.
CIL aims to produce 660mn tonnes of coal in 2019-2020, which is 8% more than in 2018-2020, accounting for around 80% of national output. The rest is produced by other state companies and private miners.
One by-product of the drive for coal is that India’s 2018 CO2 emissions increased faster than any other country on a per capita basis, although emissions remain low at only 40% of the global average, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
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w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 01 08•January•2020
