Mandatory Washing of Thermal Coal for Power Plants May be Removed
Business Standard reported that Indian government is planning to do away with the mandatory requirement of washing of coal before it is transported to thermal power stations. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in a discussion note, suggested that coal washing should be done away with, as it does not bring down the ash content in coal. The environment ministry now in its latest note has said, “In the overall scheme of coal, mine, washery and power plant, the extent of ash content in mined coal remains the same.”
The note has been prepared in consultation with the ministry of coal, power and Niti Ayog. Agreeing that coal washing does not help reduce emissions, the power ministry said that coal rejects from washery find their way into the market for use by industries and create pollution. Coal ministry said washing of coal is unable to meet its intended objective as it merely localises the pollution around coal mines which otherwise would have been distributed over larger areas.
In 2014, as part of its climate change commitments, the government had made coal washing mandatory for supply to all thermal units beyond 500 kms from the coal mine. This was done in line with India’s stand in climate change negotiations - not to reduce coal consumption and rather focus on emission control. MoEFCC, in its guidelines issued the same year, said, “Power stations located between 500-750, 750-1000 km would be supplied coal with ash content not exceeding 34 per cent on quarterly average basis from January 01, 2016." It, therefore, directed the coal companies to supply washed/blended or beneficiated coal.
According to industry calculations, coal washing improves the quality of coal by reducing the ash content to 33 per cent from an earlier 40-45 on an average for Indian coal.
Source : Strategic Research Institute