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Way forward

India has entered the green phase of coal technology. Last week, an agreement was signed between the BHEL and Andhra Padesh Power Generation Corporation to set up a 125 MW power plant at Vijayawada using IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) technology. Employed on a trial basis in India over the past two decades, IGCC has now been scaled up and put to commercial use. Considered the cleanest among the emerging power technologies, it first converts solid coal into a combustible gas, which is then rid of sulphur compounds and other pollutants. The cleaned gas is burnt in a gas turbine to generate electricity. The exhaust gas from the turbine is further used to produce steam to drive a turbine and generate more electricity. What puts IGCC above the conventional pulverised coal technology is its thermal efficiency. At present it is about 45 per cent efficient but could go up to 60 per cent. This is a substantial improvement over the 35 per cent efficiency of pulverised coal plants. For every one percentage point rise in thermal efficiency, there would be a reduction of about two to three points in greenhouse gas emissions. These factors will also help IGCC plant qualify for earning carbon credits.

India needs to generate about 744.344 billion units of electricity in 2008-09 and more than half of that is to come from thermal plants using coal. The high ash content of Indian coal has been blamed for the higher emission of suspended particulate matter by thermal plants. But IGCC, in comparison with a conventional plant, promises to remove, independent of the coal type, 99 per cent of the sulphur compounds, 90 per cent of Nox and 35 per cent of CO2. It is also low on water consumption. The World Bank estimates that the cost of an IGCC power plant is 10 to 30 per cent higher than that of a conventional pulverised coal plant but the additional investment is well worth it. Through this investment, it is made clear that India’s commitment to clean technology is on a par with that of any developed country. In this context, the NTPC’s move to set up a Climate Change Research Fund for supporting research and engineering initiatives towards clean technology is commendable and needs to be emulated. The report on the country’s integrated energy policy clearly states that coal will play a dominant role in energy production till 2031-32. In such a scenario, IGCC is a step in the right direction and the way forward. Similar efforts along with increased attention to solar and wind power generation will go to improve the environmental performance of the power sector significantly.

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