A P Power Sector Scenario
The present electrical power consumption in AP State is around 87,380 Million Units(MU) per annum, which is estimated to be equivalent of about 17, 500 MW of installed capacity. It is being met by AP GENCO, NTPC and IPPs. At present the installed capacity of APGENCO Units – Coal, Hydel, Gas etc- is around 8,900 MW about 50% of the total requirement. The AP GENCO is reported to be planning to add another 19,626 MW capacity, more than twice the present capacity, by 2020 or so.
Proposed Addl. Capacity in AP
As per the information gathered from various sources, which may not be very authentic, around 70 Power Plants based on Coal, Hydel, Gas etc, including 10,000 MW Nuclear Power Park at Kowada in Srikakulam district, are reported to be in the planning stage/ pipeline, with the total capacity addition of around 70,000 MW in the State. Out of this, about 25 Coal based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs), with total capacity of about 45,000 MW are expected to come up on the Coast of AP, starting from Sompeta in Srikakulam District in the North to Krishnapatnam in Nellore District in the South.
Coal and its Impacts
The Thermal Power Plants coming up on the coast, with an estimated capacity of 45,000 MW, will require 270 million tons of Coal per annum, at the rate of 6 million tons per 1000 MW per annum and at least 30-40% of which will have to be imported. With an ash content of 25% in the coal, the Fly ash of 67.5 million tons/annum will be generated with its associated problems.
The mining of coal destroys the entire ecosystems and burning it alters our climate, makes people sick and cuts lives short. The disposal of its huge volumes of waste (fly ash) contaminates the land and surface/ground waters alike. The share of SPM load caused by TPPs is about 82% of the total Industrial Pollution, causing serious respiratory problems. The UN panel called for immediate suspension of Coal Power Projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The coal is not clean and really cannot be made so. But that does not keep those, who make big money by mining and burning the black mineral, from making those dubious claims.
Coal Power Plants on the Coast
The requirement of huge quantities of Fresh Water and the Land for TPPs is bound to have high social and economic impacts on the local communities. In addition to the adverse impacts of SPM, the problems of Mercury, NoX, SO2 etc released by TPPs, are of immense magnitude. The marine and coastal ecology & biodiversity are the main causalities of the TPPs, with their adverse impacts on the livelihood of the coastal communities.
The other aspect is the destruction of ecologically sensitive coastal natural resources such as Mangroves, Wetlands, and Bird Sanctuaries by the location of the proposed TPPs, as experienced at Sompeta and Kakarapalli in Srikakulam district. The capacity of 5,000 MW is expected at Critically Polluted Visakhapatnam, which is of serious environmental concern and health hazard to the people in the area.
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Likely Impact of TPPs around Krishnapatnam on SHAR at Srihari Kota
Surprisingly about 22,500 MW capacity i.e. 50% of the total capacity on the AP Coast is likely to come up in Krishnapatnam and Chillakur Mandals of Nellore district alone. The likely adverse impacts of this on SHAR at Srihari Kota and Pulicat Wildlife Sanctuary and Pulicat Lake, the second largest brackish water Eco-System in the country, do not seem have to been studied and evaluated.
The comprehensive and integrated Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of these TPPs along with the TPP at Ennore in Tamilnadu needs to be undertaken to evaluate their adverse impacts on SHAR, Pulicat Wildlife Sanctuary, Buckingham Canal etc. No new TPPs should be permitted and the ones already permitted in the area are not to be commissioned, before integrated EIA is completed.
Capacity Addition Syndrome
The policy of capacity additions embodied the myth that economic vitality requires steadily increasing energy consumption. The Nation's Energy Security depends on efficient use of Energy Services that maximize economic competitiveness and minimize environmental degradation / impacts. The following questions need to be addressed by the Policy Makers, before resorting to any more capacity additions in AP State:
a) Does AP State need massive capacity addition of 70,000 MW, taking into consideration the huge potential for saving energy by reduction of T&D Losses and Energy Conservation Measures, which are comparatively cheaper, faster and eco-friendly ?
b) If not required, why inflict the AP Coast with the Ecological Disaster?
c) Do these capacity additions justify massive investments (Rs.5 Crore/MW & similar amount for Evacuation), taking into account the sever shortage of domestic coal supplies, already being experienced & its poor quality and the likely increase of international coal prices & freight costs and massive costs of ecological destruction under "Polluter Pays Principle"?
d) Factoring in the environmental and other associated costs of TPPs, Solar Power may prove to be cost effective?
e) Have MOEF and Ministry of Power, GOI, considered the above while clearing the massive capacity additions on AP Coast?
f) Has the State Administration ever given a thought to the above, before alienating Govt Lands, particularly the eco-sensitive wet-lands and permitting the land acquisition and the change of the land-use for TPPs?
Conclusion
For setting up of such huge capacities, using estimated 270 million tons of coal & generating 67.5 million tons of flyash per annum, the integrated and comprehensive EIA should have been undertaken to evaluate the cumulative adverse impacts on coastal communities and marine & coastal resources in particular. No new projects should be cleared and/or permitted to be commissioned before an integrated EIA is undertaken and its evaluation is completed.
The incorporation of comparatively cleaner technologies such as IGCC and the integration of Solar Thermal Power by the Coal based Thermal Power Plants already cleared will have to be considered, particularly around Krishnapatnam, to reduce their adverse impacts
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