The proposed 800 MW supercritical thermal power plant at KTPS, Paloncha will be a reality only at the expense of eight older units, and an almost equivalent quantity of power for Telangana.
This has been made clear by the expert committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) which recommended the project for Environmental Clearance subject to the condition that all 60 MW and 120 MW units of the Stages I through VI of KTPS shall be phased out by 2019.
This would mean loss of 720 MW of power for the State, as a total of eight units – four of 60 MW and four of 120 MW – fit the criterion to be phased out.
Though the project proposals initially submitted by the TSGenco envisaged phasing out of 120 MW units during 2018-19 and 60 MW units during 2023-24, the Corporation will now be required to shut down all the units by the end of 2019.
When contacted, a senior official from TSGenco confirmed that capacities up to 720 MW will be shut down by the company within the stipulated time.
Scrapping the proposal to acquire 230 acres of additional land for construction of ash pond, the committee asked TSGenco to utilise the existing ash pond, while exploring the options for total utilisation of fly ash by setting up new cement manufacturing industries.
Fly ash utilisation by KTPS as of now hovers around 16 per cent. The TSGenco had to recently furnish bank guarantees worth Rs. 50 lakh to Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) against violation of pollution norms. In its proposals, the company mentioned possibility of stowing the fly ash into the expired coal mines of Singareni.
Conditions by expert committee stipulate that TSPCB and the Ministry’s regional office shall jointly monitor all the existing units of KTPS on six-monthly basis till they are satisfied with their compliance with all the pollution norms. TSPCB shall give the Consent to Operate (CTO) for Stage VII only after all the existing units are in total compliance with the norms.
TSGenco has also given a commitment to provide for installation of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in the residential township of KTPS, with the committee asking for its commissioning by April, 2016.
If the expert committee recommendations are considered, then
the State will lose
720 MW of power
