GoI to install new 18.56 GW energy efficient plants

The Government of India has decided to replace old power plants with a total capacity of 7,738 MW owned by the Centre and the states with energy-efficient super-critical plants that will generate a gross 18,560 MW annually.

This move will increase the generation capacity of the plants and attain energy efficiency. This less-polluting technology will yield long-term benefits and conserve natural resources, observed an analyst.

The cost of technical changes at these plants could be reportedly Rs 1.5 crore per MW. Besides, the domestic capacity for the manufacture of power equipments for the technological upgradation is not more than 15 GW a year, as compared to the demand of around 40 GW per annum for meeting SOx norms, according to a national news portal.

The ministry for the first time had fixed SOx and NOx norms in 2015 for such stations and mandated that plants must adhere to these guidelines by 2017, the news portal reported.