Heat-house plants

Not having anti-polluting FGD systems in TPPs is cause for worry

- JAYANT PANKAJ

Power plants running on coal are responsible for an estimated 112,000 premature deaths in India each year due to toxic emission, and the country remains heavily reliant on the commodity, with nearly 75 per cent of its electricity grid linked to coal-based units, according to the United States-based group Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

These alarming figures underscore the urgent need for stronger environmental policies.

Shripad Naik, minister of state for new and renewable energy, on August 18 told the Rajya Sabha the Ministry of Environment had issued a gazette notification on July 11. The directive exempts most coal-based thermal-power units from installing flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) systems, the technology crucial for reducing sulphur-dioxide (SO) emission.

This exemption comes despite the fact that most plants currently lack FGD devices, and a significant number of those emit SO2 at levels beyond the permissible limits set by the government. In India, there are approximately 281 such plants, divided into 537 units in different parts of the country. Of those, only 44 units have FGD installed; the rest of the 493 units do not, and 387 units crossed emission norms in FY25.

The units that have installed FGD devices have seen a lower emission of SO2. Among 44 units that have the devices, only eight have seen an increase in SO2 emission more than the prescribed norm.