INTRODUCTION

Coal-fired electric power plants are one of the largest sources of air pollution with greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions from burning of fossil fuels believed to be the major contributor to global
climate change. The total efficiency of a power plant involves the efficiency of the various
components of a generating unit.
Efficiency of older CFPPs1 becomes degraded over time, and lower power plant efficiency
results in more CO2 emissions per unit of electricity generated. Most often increasing the
efficiency of CFPPs include equipment refurbishment, plant upgrades, and improved operations
and maintenance schedules. Cost of the improvements is often compared to the expected return
in increased efficiency as a primary determinant of whether to go forward with a program.

INDIAN CONTEXT
India has a total installed capacity of 250 GW of which approximately 60% or 140 GW is
thermal based generation or coal based generation. Currently, 16 GW of thermal capacity based
on super critical technology is under construction at various locations. Super critical technology
accounts for less than 30% of total coal based generation. Growing demand for electricity in
India has raised power generation technologies in the headlines. The ongoing discussion about
causes of global warming has focused on emissions originating from power generation and on
CO2 reduction technologies such as:

Alternative primary energy sources

Capture and storage of CO2

India has a major plan to introduce supercritical technologies in view of reduced fuel costs, low
emissions and good part load efficiency. It is however costlier by 3-10 per cent over current subcritical power plants. At present, and in the coming decade as well, fossil fuels-based generation
is the backbone of Indian power sector. However according to Central Electricity Authority data,
several of the old units are operating at 29-32 per cent efficiency 2. This situation needs to be
corrected, and retrofitting existing plants is an option that may be pursued where viable.

ADVANTAGES OF SUPER-CRITICAL STEAM CYCLES

Coal-fired Supercritical Power plants operate at very high temperature (580C) and with a
pressure of 23 MPa thus resulting in much higher heat efficiencies (46%), as compare to SubCritical coal-fired plants. Sub-Critical coal-fired plant operates at 455C temperature, and
efficiency of within 40%.
"Supercritical" is a thermodynamic expression describing the state of a substance where there is
no clear distinction between the liquid and the gaseous phase (i.e. they are a homogenous fluid).
Water reaches this state at a pressure above 22.1 MPa. The greater the output of electrical energy
1 Coal fired power plants
2 CEA, India

for a given amount of energy input, the higher is the efficiency. If the energy input to the cycle is
kept constant, the output can be increased by selecting elevated pressures and temperatures for
the water-steam cycle. By raising the temperature from 580C to 760C and the pressure out of
the high pressure feed-water pump from 33 MPa to 42 MPa, the thermal efficiency improves by
about 4%. This is known as Ultra-supercritical steam condition.

Figure 1: Critical point of water-steam: 22.115 MPa, 374.15 degree Celsius

There are some principle advantages of using Supercritical Steam Cycles:3

Reduced fuel costs due to improved thermal efficiency

Compared to sub-critical plants, CO 2 emissions are reduced by about 15% per unit of
electricity generated
Supercritical technology is well proven with excellent availability
In part-loads the efficiency is typically half the drop in efficiency compared to a subcritical plant
Costs are comparable with sub-critical technology and less than other clean coal
technologies

3 Fluidized Bed Technologies for High Ash Indian Coals- A Techno-Economic Evaluation
Centre for Energy Technology, University College of Engineering (Autonomous) Osmania
University

Very low emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxide (SOx) and other particulate is
achievable using modern flue gas clean-up equipment

Supercritical power plants are thus highly efficient plants with best available pollution control
technology. They increase the kWh produced per kilogram of coal burned, with fewer emissions.
They help reduce existing pollution levels by burning less coal per megawatt-hour produced and
by capturing the vast majority of the pollutants.

OBSERVATIONS
Total Installed Capacity
Coal based generation
Super Critical
Subcritical

250
150
16
134

GW
GW
GW
GW

The subcritical based generation is 134 GW in India. Till date 16 GW of Supercritical based
generation is being developed in various locations. As per CEA, the overall efficiency of
subcritical based generation is 29-32%. For calculation an efficiency of 30% was assumed.
Total Generation Potential from current subcritical 1173840000000.0
plants
0
Actual subcritical generation

352152000000.00

Supercritical generation after conversion

539966400000.00

Increased number of units after conversion

187814400000.00

kwh/annu
m
kwh/annu
m
kwh/annu
m
kwh/annu
m

As can be seen above, the current coal based subcritical power plants upon up gradation to super
critical technology will see an efficiency of 40-50%. Thus the overall generation will improve by
187814.40 MUs. These units are now available for sale and will lead to enhanced revenues for
the power producers. The coal consumption for gross kWh generated is shown below for the
technology specified. A total of 117384000 tons of coal consumption can be reduced for
generating approximately 1.8 lakh MUs. At a price of INR 2000 per ton of coal the total saving
in fuel would be INR 234768 million. The total cost of converting subcritical power plants to
supercritical is approximately INR 670000 crore. The cost has been arrived at using the average
sot of INR 5000 crore per GW for upgrading to supercritical technology.
Total coal consumption for subcritical plants
Total coal consumption for supercritical plants
Reduction in coal consumption
Approximate coal cost

868641600
751257600
117384000
234768

tonnes
tonnes
tonnes
million INR

CONCLUSION
There is an urgent need to move over to supercritical and higher efficiency power generation
technologies, it is also necessary to retrofit and improve efficiencies of the existing power plants.
Supercritical technology will yield better results, but that will be time-consuming and has many
parameters like the loading conditions of the plant that will have a bearing on performance
efficiency. New technologies have Research and Development and deployment phases, which
require funding. Such funds need to come from the government, the public sector and the private
sector. Multilateral and bilateral agencies will play an important role in technology development
and deployment and that role should be clearly defined in the governments policy framework.
New capacities for manufacturing supercritical power plants have already put great pressure on
many private companies and commercial banks. There is an urgent need to follow a planned
pattern for growth of the power sector.
Investments in power generation provide an opportunity for the business, provided an
appropriate policy framework and administrative practices are adopted to attract private and
foreign investments. Laying down standards, conducting verification of audits on performance
and ensuring technology transfers from major equipment suppliers will create an environment
conducive to speedy growth. There are enough opportunities for FDI in Indias power sector. In
parallel to an expectation of higher FDI, it will be necessary for the power sector to strengthen
domestic commercial markets and move towards a scenario where larger capital equities are put
in by the developers and the rate of interest for accessing funds is higher than at present.