The challenges of fuel options for the new generation of Indian thermal power plants

Conference · Thu Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999

OSTI ID:20013444

Roy, C; Sanyal, A

The selection of fuel supply is probably the most important challenge a potential power project developer for a new Indian thermal power plant has to face when considering the overall project economics. The paper reviews the essential issues and the effect of fuel selection on project costs of the new generation of thermal power plants of India. Coal, lignite and natural gas are India's indigenous fossil fuel resources for power generation. The country has a modest reserve of petroleum crude. India is the world's third largest coal producer and has 205 billion metric tons of assessed and 73 billion tons of proven reserves. The indigenous supply of petroleum is unlikely to improve much in the near future. Liquid fuel based generation is therefore marginal in the country. Although coal will continue to be the mainstay fuel, there is a short term need to examine the possibility of using alternative fuels due to two basic reasons: (a) A 70 million tons of shortfall is forecast for the power sector during the 1997--2002 period. The deficit has to be met by either import of coal or other fuels. Development of new mines is a long gestation activity. (b) There is an uneven geographical location of Indian coal reserves. For the load centers, which are distant from the indigenous coal sources, use of alternative fuel could also prove to be economical in the long term. Moving coal will become harder in view of the high demands being placed on the railways by many other sectors.

• Research Organization: National Thermal Power Corp., New Delhi (IN)
• OSTI ID: 20013444
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
02 PETROLEUM
03 NATURAL GAS
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
BITUMINOUS COAL
ECONOMIC IMPACT
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
FUEL SUPPLIES
INDIA
LIGNITE
NATURAL GAS
PETROLEUM