Page 1 - Water Neutral Electricity Production in India: Avoiding the Unmanageable
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POLICY BRIEFT E R I P o l i c y B r i e f DECEMBER 2016
The Energy and Resources Institute
Water Neutral
Electricity Production
in India: Avoiding the
Unmanageable
CONTENTS Indian Power sector is dominated by coal based thermal power plants,
constituting 87% of total installed capacity of 200.7 Gigawatt (GW), as
Water neutrality of Power plants on 31st January 2016. In India, production of coal has increased by 7.5
Integrated Watershed Management: times and production of electricity has increased by 13 times since 1970-
71. Furthermore, Niti Aayog projects that the total installed capacity for
An approach to water neutrality electricity generation in the country will range from 300-700 GW by 2047
Policy Analysis under different policy initiative scenarios. Considering the practicality
Policy Gaps of implementation, even with best of efforts to diversify the fuel and
Policy Recommendations technology mix in the power generation sector, India would continue to
Conclusion rely heavily on coal based electricity generation, accounting for atleast
50-60% of the total capacity.
Authors
Shresth Tayal, TERI Thermal Power Plants are reported to be accounting for 87.8% of
Sonia Grover, TERI total industrial water consumption in the country. In general, specific
Advisor water consumption of coal based power plants with cooling tower in
Dr S K Sarkar, TERI India is about 5-7 m3/h per MW. As such, thermal power production in
the country is consuming atleast 16.8 million m3 of water per day at 80%
The Energy and Resources Institute load factor, which is equivalent to per capita water requirement of about
Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex, 20% population of the country. Ministry of Environment, Forests and
Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110 003 Climate Change has stipulated rules for water consumption by thermal
Tel. 2468 2100 or 4150 4900 power plants, and has asked them to reduce their maximum specific
Fax. 2468 2144 or 2468 2145 water consumption to 3.5 m3/hr per MW by 2017. These standards are
India +91 Delhi (0) 11 in agreement with the practices followed in countries like Germany,
United States of America and United Kingdom.Once implemented, it has
www.teriin.org a potential to save water equivalent to per capita water requirement of
about 8% population of the country. However, implementation of these
norms will lead to trade off with reference to electricity production
and improvement in operational efficiency by thermal power plants.
For example, improvement in plant load factor to enhance production
capacity will negatively influence the water consumption requirements
of the plants.
Country is witnessing 6-8% growth in electricity consumption
per decade since 1980. This is accompanied with approximately 24%
The Energy and Resources Institute
Water Neutral
Electricity Production
in India: Avoiding the
Unmanageable
CONTENTS Indian Power sector is dominated by coal based thermal power plants,
constituting 87% of total installed capacity of 200.7 Gigawatt (GW), as
Water neutrality of Power plants on 31st January 2016. In India, production of coal has increased by 7.5
Integrated Watershed Management: times and production of electricity has increased by 13 times since 1970-
71. Furthermore, Niti Aayog projects that the total installed capacity for
An approach to water neutrality electricity generation in the country will range from 300-700 GW by 2047
Policy Analysis under different policy initiative scenarios. Considering the practicality
Policy Gaps of implementation, even with best of efforts to diversify the fuel and
Policy Recommendations technology mix in the power generation sector, India would continue to
Conclusion rely heavily on coal based electricity generation, accounting for atleast
50-60% of the total capacity.
Authors
Shresth Tayal, TERI Thermal Power Plants are reported to be accounting for 87.8% of
Sonia Grover, TERI total industrial water consumption in the country. In general, specific
Advisor water consumption of coal based power plants with cooling tower in
Dr S K Sarkar, TERI India is about 5-7 m3/h per MW. As such, thermal power production in
the country is consuming atleast 16.8 million m3 of water per day at 80%
The Energy and Resources Institute load factor, which is equivalent to per capita water requirement of about
Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex, 20% population of the country. Ministry of Environment, Forests and
Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110 003 Climate Change has stipulated rules for water consumption by thermal
Tel. 2468 2100 or 4150 4900 power plants, and has asked them to reduce their maximum specific
Fax. 2468 2144 or 2468 2145 water consumption to 3.5 m3/hr per MW by 2017. These standards are
India +91 Delhi (0) 11 in agreement with the practices followed in countries like Germany,
United States of America and United Kingdom.Once implemented, it has
www.teriin.org a potential to save water equivalent to per capita water requirement of
about 8% population of the country. However, implementation of these
norms will lead to trade off with reference to electricity production
and improvement in operational efficiency by thermal power plants.
For example, improvement in plant load factor to enhance production
capacity will negatively influence the water consumption requirements
of the plants.
Country is witnessing 6-8% growth in electricity consumption
per decade since 1980. This is accompanied with approximately 24%
