Archive for category: Coal

China to cut coal use, curb steel in 2018-2020 pollution plan

10th july 2018

China will cut coal consumption, boost electric vehicle sales and shut more outdated steel and coke capacity in the coming three years, the State Council said in a long-awaited 2018 to 2020 pollution action plan published on Tuesday.
China is in the fifth year of a “war on pollution” aimed at reversing the damage done to the country’s environment since the economy was opened up in 1978, with President Xi Jinping promising to use the full might of the Chinese Communist Party to meet the country’s goals.
The new 2018 to 2020 action plan, released on the country’s official government website, will expand the fight to 82 cities across China, and confirmed that the major coal-producing provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi have been added to the list of “key” pollution control regions.
The new plan will also cover the heavily industrialised province of Henan in central China, as well as the Yangtze river delta, which includes the provinces of Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and the region around Shanghai.
The document said the regions of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong and Henan will be required to cut coal consumption by 10 percent over the 2016 to 2020 period, while the Yangtze delta region will have to cut coal use by 5 percent over the period.
It also said no new capacity for steel, coke and primary aluminium production will be allowed in the regions through to 2020, the State Council, or China’s cabinet, said. It will cap steel capacity in Hebei, the country’s largest steelmaking province, at 200 million tonnes by 2020, down from 286 million tonnes in 2013.
China will also take more action to tackle small-scale “scattered” pollution sources, and will work to cut off water, electricity and raw material supplies to firms that violate rules.
To meet its politically important smog targets in northern China last year, the government curbed traffic and coal use, and also imposed “one size fits all” restrictions on industries like steel, aluminium and cement throughout 28 northern cities from October 2017 to March this year.
The cabinet said special anti-smog measures would still be introduced over autumn and winter, but each of the 82 cities would now draw up its own bespoke plan. It also said it would raise gas storage capacity to ensure supplies were sufficient during winter.
The cabinet also set an annual production and sales target for new energy vehicles at around 2 million vehicles a year by 2020 in order to reduce road emissions.
Source: REUTERS

Coal India Q1 production up by 15 percent to 137 million tonne

10th july 2018

Coal India Limited said it has registered a 15.2 % growth in coal production during the first quarter ended June 2018 to 136.87 million tonne while supply to power plants also jumped by 15.4 % to 122.84 million tonne. A senior official of Coal India said that “Clearly the focus is on higher coal output and increased supplies and there had been a consistent growth both in coal production and supplies to consumers during all the three months of the first quarter.”
While the offtake was spurred by higher rake loading, the overall coal offtake zoomed to 153.43 million tonne at the end of June, translating into a growth of 11.7 per cent.
Coal supplies to power stations stood at 122.84 million tonne during the quarter.
The number of power stations having critical stock has come down from 30 in April to 16 as on June-end, the company said.
The Company said that “Our aim is to shore up coal stocks at thermal power plants to the normative stock of 22 days requirement and see that the coal-fired power plants do not suffer for want of coal. We have also requested the thermal power plants to perk up their coal stocks, the official said.
Power sector accounted for 80 % of coal supplies during the period.
Coal India has been working with the Coal and Railways ministries for enhanced rake loading of 217.04 rakes per day on an average to the power sector during the first quarter of FY’19 against 189.9 rakes in the same period last year, registering a growth of 14.9 %.
The company produced 44.88 million tonne in June 2018, reflecting an increase of 5.20 million tonne in absolute terms over corresponding month of last year.
The company liquidated 16.56 MT of its pit head coal stock during the first three months of the current fiscal.
Source: THE ECONOMIC TIMES

Coal-fired power plants set to get renewed push

10th july 2018

Coal-fired power plants, often regarded as polluting relics in an era of clean energy, are making a comeback in the government’s thinking as an official study says the rapid growth in solar projects needs to be matched with new investment in steady, 24×7 electricity supply from thermal projects.
A study carried out by the power ministry to determine the right solar-coal mix shows that India’s plan to produce 55% energy from renewable sources by 2030 is overambitious. India would need 850 GW of capacity by 2030, of which solar plants, with storage facility, should not be more than 350 GW. Of around 500 GW estimated capacity addition for renewables, 140 GW will come from wind projects, senior officials aware of the development told ET. Coal, however, will be low at almost the present levels which is a concern.
“The worrying fact is that there is no fresh proposal to set up coal-based capacity for base load,” a government official said. Coal-based plants have a long gestation period of about five years against 18-24 months in case of solar. The country has not seen any major fresh coal based power plant proposal in the last few years but the government’s view until recently was that thermal plants had enough spare capacity that can be utilised when demand rises.
The official said solar energy supply is seasonal and good to meet daytime demand. “But to meet the peak evening demand and the manage supply in months when wind, solar and hydro generation is less, the study showed we will need fresh coal-based capacity,” he said. Analysts agree. As renewable energy is not firm in nature, demand from renewable energy has to be viewed in the context of balancing the grid and providing reliable 24×7 power to consumers, said Vinay Rustagi, managing director at Bridge to India.
“Fifty five percent renewable energy penetration is an extremely ambitious target. Anything close to or in excess of 30% renewable energy penetration requires huge effort in expanding the grid or making it resilient as well as in comprehensive redesign of the regulatory framework. We feel the grid integration issues for RE are being ignored in this rush for new capacity addition. This can lead to grid curtailment (as high as 40% in China and some other countries) and the government needs to be extremely careful in planning renewable energy capacity addition,” he said.
Currently, India has 196-GW coal capacity and about 50 Gw of hydro and nuclear plants. About 51Gw thermal plants are stranded or stressed because of non-availability of fuel, lack of PPAs or under-recovery. While another 23 Gw of under-construction projects are likely to be online in the coming five years. R K Singh, minister for power and renewable energy, on Monday said the share of renewables in India’s installed capacity is set to increase to around 55% by 2030.
India had committed in the Paris convention to shift 40% of its electricity generation capacity to green energy by 2030. It is expected to achieve the target by 2022-23. Besides 227 Gw estimated renewable energy generation by 2022, the renewable energy ministry has prepared a trajectory to tender renewable energy projects—30 Gw of solar and 10 Gw of wind each year till 2028.
Analysts agree. As renewable energy is not firm in nature, demand from renewable energy has to be viewed in the context of balancing the grid and providing reliable 24×7 power to consumers, said Vinay Rustagi, managing director at Bridge to India. Having seen the consequences of mismatch due to explosive growth of thermal in the last decade, we cannot afford another mismatch, said Association of Power Producers director general Ashok Khurana said.
“Looking at the quantum of under-utilised/idling and under construction thermal capacity in system, we need to recalibrate our renewable capacity addition programme pace on grounds of absorption capacity of base/peak power, impact on financial health of distribution utilities and power transmission capability up to last mile,” he said.
Kameswara Rao, leader-energy and utilities at PwC India said, “Not only new base-load capacity is needed, but as the mix shifts to renewable energy, we need to invest in flexible generation such as gas and pumped storage hydro to manage variability. In a sense, the power system needs a balanced diet and skimping on any of these can be expensive.”
The mandatory renewables purchase obligations on states, transmission and duty exemptions, the companies have shifted focus to renewable energy but consumers may have to shell a higher price. “The tariffs of renewable energy projects with storage cannot match that of coal plants close to coal source,” an expert said on condition of anonymity. “The power distribution companies and consumers will have to bear the cost.”
Source: THE ECONOMIC TIMES