CHANDIGARH: The installation of flue gas desulphurization (FGD) units to control pollution  at the thermal plants of Punjab as per directive of Central Pollution Control Board is not only forcing the Punjab State power Corporation Ltd. (PSPCL) to go for un-necessary expenditure especially in case of Ropar thermal plant but will also  burden the states power consumers .

Central Pollution Control Board vide its orders of April 2018 and 25th June 2019 has directed PSPCL to install FGDs by December this year and install cooling tower system by June 2022. PSPCL authorities have invited the tenders for FGDs for Ropar thermal plant and Lehra Mohabatt thermal plant.

PSPCL authorizes have already shut down the first two units of the Ropar thermal plant .The unit no 3 &4 were commissioned in September 88 and January 89 and have completed 30 years of life. Unit no 5 &6 were commissioned in September 92 and December 93 and have completed 27 years of life. Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has declared that all the thermal units which have outlived their life period of 25 years should be phased out and replaced by super critical units. PSPCL has already forwarded the case for construction of super critical units to Punjab Government for approval.

V K Gupta a spokesperson of All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) said that thermal plants in Punjab used Indian Coals which have high ash content, but do not have sulphur causing problems like acid rains. , FGDs are being retrofitted where they are not required. Techno economics of retrofitting old plants with FGDs when they are likely to be retired should be taken into account.

V K Gupta further said that at present plant load factor of thermal plants is about 40% and most of the state sector thermal units remain under shut down for 8 months of a year then where is the necessity of this wasteful expenditure.

The installation of pollution control   technology in coal-based power plants was announced by the Ministry of Enviorment,Forests and Climate change   in 2015  to limit the concentration of sulphur dioxide , nitrogen oxides , particulate matter (PM) and mercury in stack emissions for coal-fired power plants. The deadline has now been extended to 2022. For plants located in proximity to the National Capital Region, the target date for environmental compliance is end 2019.

Munish Tewari Member Parliament tweeted a reply of Minister of State Babul Supriyo that estimated cost of installing FDG units at Ropar thermal Plant is Rs.122 crore. The estimated cost for total compliance is 0.73 crore per MW.

As per a report the tariff increase would be 32 to 72 paise per unit but in extreme cases, the tariff increases could be as high as 90 paise to 120 paise per unit depending upon plant load factor.