Cleaning the coal power technology

India separated itself from the rest of the developing countries by pledging to go net zero by 2070 during the COP26 held in Glasgow, UK. That day amongst the five goals outlined by the Prime Minister of India, one talks about achieving 50 per cent of the power generation through renewable sources by 2030. Currently, around three-fourths of India’s power needs are fulfilled through fossil fuels

The data published by the Ministry of Power (MoP) shows that as of September 2022, the capacity of fossil fuel-based power plants in India stood at 57.9 per cent of the total installed capacity, while renewable sources, excluding hydropower (11 per cent), has an installed capacity of 29 per cent. But when it comes to actual power production, fossil fuels produced 75 per cent of the total electricity produced in 2021-22, while renewable sources produced only 12 per cent (Central Electricity Authority).
Such dependence on fossil fuels results in significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As per the 2020 annual report published by the European Union, India was in the third position, following China and America in terms of total CO2 emissions. The report says India’s emissions stood at 2411.73 MT CO2 in 2020. The report titled ‘India Energy Outlook 2021’ published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected that India’s power demand would grow by five per cent yearly. So, the government aims to fulfil this demand increase by increasing power production through renewable sources.

The goal doesn’t cover

IEA report foretells that even in 2030, India’s 59 per cent of electricity would still be coming from coal and natural gas-based plants even though their share in total installed capacity would come down to around 38 per cent. Down to Earth reports that Coal-fired power plants in India add as much as one gigatonne of CO2 to our environment every year and 50 per cent of all fuel-related CO2 emissions of the country. They are also responsible for 2.5 per cent of global GHG emissions and one-third of India’s GHG emissions. But our International Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) approved on August 3, 2022, do not address this issue.
According to data from MoP during 2012-13 and 2022-23, India’s total power generation saw an annual average growth of 5.2 per cent, which coincides with the growth of power generation from fossil fuels during the same period. The data clearly shows that the usage of fossil fuels in power generation is not dropping. It is rather increasing, and so does
India’s emissions.
It is not that the country has not done anything to change its sorry state of Thermal Power Plants (TPP). In 2015, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change introduced a new set of emission norms for power plants in India. The initial deadline for compliance with these norms and installation of Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) units was in 2017 and extended to 2022 for plants in Category A. While the deadline for Category B and C power plants was pushed to December 2023 and December 2024, respectively.

Lack of reliability and sustainability of renewables

Renewable energy in India has been witnessing six per cent of average annual growth during 2012-13 to 2021-22, and solar power is leading in the race amongst renewables with an installed capacity of 14.9 per cent of the total installed capacity, followed by wind with a share of 10.2 per cent. However, it should be noted that even though the renewable sector has an installed capacity of 29 per cent, it is producing only 12 per cent of India’s total power, showing that renewable is not a reliable and sustainable source of power. Apart from that, the lack of domestic production of solar wafers and polysilicon for photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules makes India extremely dependent on imports. This adds to the country’s current account deficit, as solar modules cost as much as 60 per cent of the total cost of any solar power project in India. Mint reported that in 2019-20 India imported solar cells and modules worth $1.6 billion, while in 2018-19, the import bill stood at $2.16 billion.
Another challenge before the renewable sectors is the low Energy Return on Investment (EROI). According to the Corporate Finance Institute (CFI), an energy source should have an EROI score above seven to be called a viable energy source. While PV cells have an EROI score of 2, wind turbines have a score of 4. On the other hand, the conventional source of energy has much higher scores. The gas turbine has a score of 28, coal has 30, hydro 35 and nuclear 75. This reflects the difference between the installed renewable capacity and their actual power production.
The major challenge faced by renewables is price competition with coal. As per the global data, India is ranked second in coal production in terms of volume, with a total production of 766.9 million tonnes, followed by China. Domestic production makes it much cheaper than any other imported fuel. Apart from that, there are other challenges like land scarcity, as per capita availability of land is low in India, and transmission and distribution losses.

Way forward

Along with curating an ecosystem that fosters the growth of solar power in India, the country needs to treat its TPP, especially the coal-fired TPP, which is responsible for over 50 per cent of SO2 emissions, 30 per cent of nitrous oxide emissions and 20 per cent of particulate matter pollution. But we cannot shut down our TPP as they produce 75 per cent of our electricity. Therefore, cutting emissions from these power plants with the help of modern technologies like FGD should be our priority.
Communist China has been a twinkling example of the success of FGD technology. Down to Earth reports that between 2006 and 2010, usage of FGD technology in China soared from 30 per cent to 87 per cent, and in 2015 it reached 93 per cent. Consequently, emissions from TPP, 93 per cent of which consist of coal-based power plants, have been reduced by 38 per cent, and nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution has dropped by 42 per cent since 2012. This could serve as a lesson to India.
As per the World Population Review, China operates over 1,100 coal power plants. India, on the other hand, operates 285 coal-fired plants. So, India could also reduce its emission from TPP provided that concerned authorities ensure stringent compliance with emissions norms and timely implementation of technological solutions.

Coal-power plants in India add one gigatonne of CO2 to our environment every year and 50 per cent of all fuel-related CO2 emissions. They are also responsible for 2.5 per cent of global GHG emissions and one-third of India’s GHG emissions.