Coal-based power plants get two years extension to install emissions control equipment

The Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change has granted a two-year extension to all thermal power plants (TPP) for the installation of emissions control equipment.

In a fresh gazette notification, it has pushed the installation of flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) technology to December 2024 from December 2022 for TPPs within a 10-km radius of the National Capital Region (NCR) or cities with the population of over one million.

For TPPs within a 10-km radius of critically populated areas, the new deadline is December 2025, instead of December 2023; and for the rest of the TPPs, the deadline now is December 2026, instead of December 2024. These TPPs are non-retiring units. A couple of weeks ago, the Centre had also extended the deadline for the retiring units.

As per the new notification, the ministry has made it clear that power plants will be forcibly retired if they do not comply with norms on cut sulphur emissions by the end of 2027. The thermal plants near populated areas and New Delhi will have to pay penalties to operate after December 2024, while TPPs in less polluted areas will be penalised after December 2026.

According to sources in the power ministry, FGD technology is used to remove sulphur dioxide from exhaust flue gases of fossil fuel power plants and from the emissions of other sulphur oxide emitting processes. It is a control device that absorbs and reacts using an alkaline reagent to produce a solid compound.

The ministry had notified the emission norms on December 7, 2015 for sulphur dioxide for coal/lignite based plants, which were to be implemented within two years from the notification (December 7, 2017).

Subsequently, in December 2017, the timeline for the implementation of new emission norms was extended. Later, due to disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the deadline was once again extended.

Union minister of state for power Ashwini Kumar Choubey in March told the Rajya Sabha that about 20 TPPs run by Central or private entities have installed FGD technology. Out of 20 TPPs, 16 have installed wet FGD technology and four have installed dry sorbent injection (DSI) technology for desulphurisation of flue gas from these plants. “However, no state-run plants have installed FGD units,” the minister said.

According to the Centre for Science and Environment, TPPs account for more than 60 per cent of total industrial emissions of particulate matter; 45 percent of sulphur dioxide; 30 percent of nitrogen oxide; and more than 80 per cent of mercury, in the country.