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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) are jointly setting up a highly efficient 800 megawatts advance ultra supercritical (AUSC) thermal power plant. The AUSC technology is indigenously developed with a joint research & development effort from Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, BHEL and NTPC.
“The development of indigenous technology for AUSC thermal power plants with much higher efficiency has been completed. A joint venture between NTPC and BHEL will set up a full scale 800 MW commercial plant using AUSC technology. The government will provide the required fiscal support. Moving forward, development of indigenous capacity for the production of high-grade steel and other advanced metallurgy materials for these plants will result in strong spin-off benefits for the economy,” Sitharaman announced in the Budget 2024.
India’s current arsenal of thermal power plants operate at an average of 32 per cent efficiency. The AUSC technology can ramp this up to 46 per cent efficiency. In the past few decades, Indian coal fleet has gone through rapid changes in terms of technology, with the first supercritical plant launched in 2010 at Mundra Adani Plant. Following this, a total of 72 supercritical and 20 ultra supercritical units have come into operation.
As reported by the Union Ministry of Heavy Industries, the indigenous AUSC technology-based thermal power plants will achieve a plant efficiency of 46 per cent, compared to approximately 38 per cent efficiency for subcritical power plants, and around 41-42 per cent for supercritical power plants. This will result in an 11 per cent reduction in coal consumption and carbon dioxide emissions compared to supercritical plants.
The first phase of the project, which focused on research and development, has been successfully completed. In the second phase, the 800 MW AUSC technology demonstration plant is planned under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Power (MoP) and NTPC. The demonstration plant will be part of NTPC’s existing plant at Sipat in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh.
There has not been any such demonstrations of advance ultra supercritical technology in the world as of 2024, though China, Japan, the United States and Europe are studying and developing the technology.
State-of-the-art ultra supercritical technology heats steam temperature at around 600 degrees Celsius and 300 Bar pressure with an optimal efficiency of 42 per cent. Increasing steam parameters is one of the best ways to achieve results in increasing efficiency.
The AUSC technology will increase the steam temperature to 710-720°C at 300 Bar pressure and achieve efficiency upwards of 46 per cent. This will decrease the coal usage and emission intensity per megawatt-hour of electricity produced.
Technology breakdown of coal power plants
Apart from the announcement of the 800 MW AUSC plant, Sitharaman also stressed on developing the country’s nuclear energy capacity. She said that nuclear energy will be imperative for India’s energy security in the future.
The Indian government will partner with private entities for Bharat small modular reactors and advance research and development in emerging nuclear technologies.
Research and development efforts towards developing small modular reactors will be crucial to understand economic and environmental feasibility of the technology.
As the country’s energy demand rises and India aims to source half of its energy from renewable, non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, it will be intriguing to see how efficient coal-power generation contributes to reducing GHG emissions, while ensuring energy security.