In a major step towards pollution control at coal-fired power plants, A.P.-Genco has undertaken the establishment of a Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) unit at Dr. Narla Tatarao Thermal Power Station (NTTPS) here.
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The tender process (domestic competitive bidding) for what is going to be the first FGD unit among the thermal plants owned by A.P.-Genco/A.P. Power Development Company Limited, has just been floated and submitted for judicial preview.
Finalisation of the tenders will be done after the judicial preview committee evaluates them and gives its findings following the submission of objections and comments by April 11 which is the deadline for feedback.
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Coming to the project, the FGD system will be installed for the NTTPS’s new 800 Megawatt unit at an estimated cost of ₹535 crore plus taxes.
According to top officials of A.P.-Genco, the installation of the FGD unit is expected to be completed in three years from the date of order.
Based on wet limestone, the FGD unit will eliminate sulfur from flue gas to mitigate the environmental hazard caused by the power plant.
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It is an expensive proposition but is considered essential to make the exhaust flue gas less harmful.
In fact, the installation of FGD units has been made compulsory by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to ensure that the sulfur dioxide emissions from the stacks are within the permissible limits.
However, the MoEFCC has given considerable time to the power utilities to install FGD units keeping in view the logistics and huge investments that are required.
In the present case, the investment worked out to nearly ₹0.669 crore per MW of installed capacity (800 MW). It is the largest unit of NTTPS poised for commercial operation soon taking the total capacity to 2,560 MW.