NTPC: Indian Participation in COP-21 -“Climate Change and Generation of Thermal Power- improvements in Conventional Systems”
India’s per capita consumption and emission are one of the lowest globally, however to evolve on Human Development Index ( HDI), which is dismal at 135 presently, the country needs to accelerate power capacity addition said Shri A.K. Jha, Chairman and Managing Director, NTPC , while participating in the panel discussion on “Climate Change and Generation of Thermal Power- improvements in Conventional Systems” at COP- 21, Paris held in India Pavilion on Dec. 3, 2015. He stated that the share of India in CO2 space is mere 2.8% but still it has to embark upon largest renewable program to reach 175 GW RE capacity by 2022. However, since RE is not available 24×7, India has to look for adequate balancing power from coal as India does not have enough gas and oil resources he added.
Stressing that coal is not an option but compulsion for India, Shri Jha spoke about research being carried on Advance Ultra Super Critical technology by different countries to enhance efficiency of coal plants. However, there is an urgent need to cooperate and share the developments by various countries to accelerate the pace of development and in the interest of the climate change without linking this to commercial/IPR issues he added.Shri Anil Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India, in his address highlighted that in India Coal is the main mainstay of Indian power sector with over 170 GW of the total installed capacity out of total 280 GW and a mission to deploy 175 GW Renewable Power capacities by 2022. Shri Singh said that despite renewable addition, India will need to use coal to generate balancing power so as to provide affordable 24×7 power to its people.
Shri A.K Ahuja, Executive Director, NTPC made a thematic presentation on the occasion stating that while making a choice for new capacity addition, four factors availability of fuel domestically, affordability , grid stability and its impact on the climate and environment are evaluated to arrive at an optimal mix. He said that NTPC is fully committed to reduce CO2 emission from its coal based stations by deploying supercritical and ultra supercritical technology as against conventional sub-critical technologies. Of 23 GW capacity under construction, more than 90% is based on advanced technologies he informed.
Shri Ajay Mathur Director General Bureau of Energy Efficiency stressed that for India coal shall remain mainstay energy source and all capacity addition on coal will be responsible. He briefly touched upon the issues of balancing power with RE and need to reduce cost.Mr Jean Francois Gagne Head of Technology R&D IEA made a strong pitch that energy sector should be centrally factored into all international climate negotiations. He stressed that energy technology holds the key therefore funding and global collaboration in energy R&D is of foundational importance. For these reasons IEA focuses on creating such linkages and enabling such partnerships.The session began with a welcome address by Shri. A.K. Gupta, Executive Director (Engineering), NTPC Ltd.
