Coal Power Plants in Tamil Nadu - a decade of false starts and falling performance

Fri, 21/06/2019 - 15:34

The past decade saw Tamil Nadu go from being power deficit to power surplus- a change made possible by significant capacity addition. With a zeal to provide energy security for the state (which was a rallying point in the state elections this decade), the State Government pulled no stops at capacity addition using coal. As a result, the state more than doubled its installed capacity in this period, with coal-based power plants continuing to be the mainstay. This report looks at the progress of the plants envisioned in this decade, through the status of their Environmental Clearance.

 

The decade saw several private players enter the fray in the electricity sector of the state. In all, about 39 projects with a cumulative capacity nearing 50 GW were proposed in the decade, besides the 8 GW that was installed in the same period (but initiated earlier). Significantly, all three private players who managed to commission coal-based power plants have landed in financial turmoil, resulting in the plants being placed on the block.

 

Numbers say a story like nothing else. It is observed that of the 39 plants proposed, only one plant has been commissioned, that too, for less than half its approved capacity. So much for hurried and plagiarised EIAs, and rushed through public hearings.

A couple of years ago, a power project proposed in 2010 for 4,000 MW had to be scrapped since the proponent- NLC India- found it unviable, given the coal transportation costs involved. This adds credence to reports indicating that coal is an unfeasible option in the state, for non-pithead plants, given the higher availability and lower tariffs for renewables.
 
Keeping aside the very real and threatening environmental and health impacts of coal, it today makes very less financial sense to invest in coal, given its prohibitively high tariffs and undue delay in getting commissioned. It would do well for TANGEDCO- which owns solely or as a joint venture, 55% of the state’s installed capacity - to learn from this decade of false starts, shelved projects and stranded power assets to focus on the other sources of its diverse electricity fleet.
 
Read the full report below: