Coal companies in the country are going green. Come 12th Five Year Plan and most power companies in the country would have taken initial steps towards coal efficiency or super critical technology. Firms such as NTPC, Lanco and L&T are in the process of installing super critical equipment for their every project as the technology not only promises lesser carbon emission, but also lesser dependence on coal.
?All our power projects will have super critical boilers in the near future, which will reduce our coal requirement by over 4% and subsequently reduce CO2 emission. Though these technologies require higher capex, if we consider the savings after installing them, it is certainly profitable,? says K Rajagopal, chief executive officer, Lanco Infratech.
Lanco generates around 3,500 mw at present, which is likely to go up to 9,300 mw in the next two years. The company has seven thermal plants, of which three units have super critical boilers. Super critical and ultra super critical technology refers to the main steam conditions. Super critical boilers operate at increasingly higher temperatures which reduces coal consumption, translating into lesser carbon emission. For Indian coal, super critical equipment makes more economic sense.
The government has also tried to encourage companies by promising incentives for adopting clean coal technologies. The coal ministry has already announced that companies with super and ultra super technologies would be given preference in allocation of coal blocks. ?As a result of this, we have seen that most power firms have either already gone for super critical technology or are in the process of adopting it,? says a coal ministry official.
Another technology called integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) has also grabbed a lot of attention of power companies. Under this technology, the coal is turned into synthesis gas, which further reduces carbon emission. Power firms like NTPC are already trying this technology on a pilot project basis.
However, for Indian firms, IGCC remains a distant dream. The biggest disadvantage of IGCC is that it is not suitable for Indian coal. ?IGCC is effective only for pet coke and high quality of coal with ash content of 5-10%, which are hardly available in India,? says an NTPC official.
NTPC has installed super critical equipment in its Sipat plant in Chhattisgarh and is in the process of doing so in another 11 projects. ?The biggest advantage is reduction in CO2 emission, which would be around 5% less per mw in the new plant,? adds the official.
Industry experts say while the super critical technology may not hike the power tariff, as the increased capital cost is offset largely by improved thermal efficiencies, the IGCC could lead to higher tariff as it is capital intensive. ?IGCC may be capital intensive and hence capacity charges tend to be higher. Underground coal gasification and power generation from such gas produced is still to be commercially proven in India,? says Dipesh Dipu, director, consulting, energy and resources & mining, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India.
