19 Coal-Based Thermal Power Plants of total capacity 2.3 GW retired in last three years

The Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy has informed about the rules and regulations regarding decommissioning of thermal power plants.

For safe management, handling and disposal of hazardous substances and dismantling of scrapped thermal power plants and disposal, Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) are required to follow various rules and regulations, guidelines such as:

1. Adherence with the environmental norms as applicable under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1976 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

 

2. Adherence with the Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016, Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and E-waste Management Rules, 2022

 

3. Adherence to Factory Act-1948

 

 Generation is a de-licensed activity as per Section 7 of the Electricity Act, 2003. Decision to decommission a coal based thermal unit and rehabilitating the labourers and casual workers who may lose their jobs after decommissioning of a coal-based power plant is taken by power generating companies based on their own techno-economic & commercial considerations and environmental reasons. In general, the labourers and casual workers who may lose their work after a coal-based unit is decommissioned, gets reemployed in other available assignments of the utility on a case-to-case basis.

19 coal-based units of 2344 MW capacity have been retired in the last three years i.e. from 01.01.2021 to 31.01.2024. The State-wise list of retired coal-based units is given below.

 

List of coal based Thermal Units Retired in the last three years

(from 01.01.2021 to 31.01.2024)

Sl. No.	Name of Station/Plant	State	Fuel	Unit No.	No of Units	Installed Capacity (MW)	Retired (MW)	Retired on
1	BOKARO `B` TPS	Jharkhand	Coal	3	1	210 (1*210)	210	01.04.2021
2	Korba-III	Chhattisgarh	Coal	1,2	2	240 (2*120)	240	01.01.2021
3	TALCHER (OLD) TPS	Odisha	Coal	1,2,3,4,5,6	6	460 (4*60+ 2*110)	460	01.04.2021
4	Koradi TPS	Maharashtra	Coal	7	1	210 (1*210)	210	02.09.2021
5	MUZAFFARPUR TPS	Bihar	Coal	1,2	2	220 (2*110)	220	31.01.2022
6	Bandel TPS	West Bengal	Coal	1	1	60(1*60)	60	28.03.2022
7	Kolaghat TPS	West Bengal	Coal	1,2	2	420 (2*210)	420	28.03.2022
8	OBRA TPS	Uttar Pradesh	Coal	7	1	94 (1*94)	94	13.10.2022
9	DURGAPUR TPS	West Bengal	Coal	4	1	210 (1*210)	210	19.12.2022
10	PARICHHA TPS	Uttar Pradesh	Coal	1,2	2	220 (2*110)	220	11.10.2023
Total					19		2344

 

The Central Electricity Authority has issued an advisory to all the Thermal Power Utilities not to retire or repurpose their coal-based power stations (units having capacity of more than 200 MW) before 2030 and to ensure the availability of thermal units after carrying out Renovation and Modernization (R&M) activities, if required, considering the expected energy demand scenario and availability of capacity in future.

 

This information has been given by the Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy Shri R. K. Singh, in a written reply to a question, in Lok Sabha today, February 8, 2024.

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PIB DELHI | Alok Mishra / Dheep Joy Mampilly