With reference to coal-based thermal power plants in India, consider the following statements:None o

Question

With reference to coal-based thermal power plants in India, consider the following statements:None of them uses seawater.None of them is set up in water-stressed district.None of them is privately owned.How many of the above statements are correct?

Accepted Answer

Thermal power plants are generally constructed near the sea coast to meet their requirement of cooling water. The warm water discharge from the thermal power plant is one of the major environmental concerns in view of the thermal pollution in the sea water. The temperature limit for the warm water discharge from the thermal power plant has to be monitored and controlled.Coastal Gujarat Power Limited (CGPL) is a coal fired power plant which operates (24 × 7) at an once-through system based sea water circulation for power generation. The used sea water is then discharged into the sea through an outlet channel. In India, several other coal-fired thermal power plants also employ seawater for a variety of functions, including cooling the condenser system. Hence statement 1 is not correct.The extraction of huge amounts of water by coal-fired thermal power plants may affect the short-term availability of water in India’s river basins, a recent study has pointed out. The study, titled Vulnerability assessment of thermal power plants in India under water stress conditions, has looked at the impact of water consumption by coal-fired thermal power plants on India’s growing water crisis.The major power grids in India — eastern, western, northern and southern — are dependent on the 14 river basins, with more plants distributed in the Indus, Ganga, Mahanadi, and Godavari basins. The catchments in India are under ‘high water stress’ due to the post-2010 geographical shift in the construction of new coal-fired power plants favouring northern and eastern river basins. Hence statement 2 is not correct.There are both privately and publicly owned coal-fired thermal power stations in India. Many private corporations have invested in the power industry and run coal-fired thermal power facilities, such as Coastal Gujarat Power Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Power. Hence statement 3 is not correct.