Power Generation: Business Opportunities Identified by NTPC
Published on : Friday 02-06-2023
In the concluding part of this two-part series, M K Srivastava dwells on the business opportunities identified by NTPC for clean energy initiatives.
The Hon’ble Prime Minister has already given Panchamrit (five nectar elements) during COP-26, but Samudra Manthan is still on for more gems in terms of technologies and systems, which can help in saving the earth from global warming. We have already identified and taken proactive steps to seize the business opportunities as well as fulfil the commitments of the Government of India at various forums. Some of them are as follows:
Clean energy innovations
1. Retirement of old and inefficient units: decommissioned 1,385 MW of thermal capacity and 660 MW in pipeline.
2. Super critical, ultra supercritical and advanced ultra super critical technologies.
3. Regular renovation and modernisation.
4. Use of biomass (agro-residue) and MSW for power generation: NTPC has set up 600TPD MSW to a charcoal plant at Varanasi.
5. Entering into nuclear sector with small reactors
6. Ammonia and methanol co-firing in thermal power plant: NTPC is working to set up a 50TPD green ammonia plant in partnership with NFL and 70TPD green Methanol and 50TPD green ammonia with GACL.
7. Underground coal gasification, and
8. In situ biomethanation of coal.
Carbon capture, utilisation and storage
For recycling of carbon to support base load generation, NTPC is working on two projects:
i. Design and setup of 10 TPD CO2 to methanol plant at NTPC Vindhyachal (capturing carbon).
ii. Development of indigenous catalyst and reactor for methanol synthesis (recycling to energy system).
CO2 captured may be hydrogenated or reformed to produce several valuable products, such as:
1. Liquid fuel: (i) Methanol (Petrol equivalent), (ii) Ethanol (Petrol), (iii) Di-Methyl Ether (Diesel and LPG)
2. Fertilizers: Urea
3. Organic chemicals: (i) Olefins, (ii) Formaldehyde, (iii) Formic acid, (iv) Acetic acid, etc.,
4. Inorganic chemicals: (i) Soda Ash, (ii) NH4Cl (Fertilizer)
5. Carbon morphology: (i) Carbon Black, (ii) Carbon Nano tubes, (iii) Carbon nanoparticles, etc., and
6. Carbonated building materials: (i) Carbonated Coarse Aggregate, (ii) Fast curing concrete (21 hours vs 21 days).
NTPC in collaboration with ONGC is developing Carbon Capture and Usage (CCU) at its Gandhar plant.
Our afforestation efforts not only add to India’s green cover and oxygen bank but also perform the role of ‘sinks’ for the polluting emissions from the stations, etc. We have set a target to plant 10 million trees up to 2026 with 1 million trees each year on an average. Till date, we have planted more than 36 million trees.
Hydrogen production, storage and utilisation
1. NTPC is taking steps to align with the National Hydrogen Mission to build capability in the green hydrogen economy.
2. 2 TPD hydrogen using PEM technology for methanol synthesis at NTPC Vindhyachal (carbon capture).
3. Hydrogen grid integrated with solar/storage/biomass-powered/AC/DC grid.
4. Hydrogen storage and compression in metal hydrides.
5. Working for development of sea water electrolysis.
6. India's first green hydrogen based 25 kW net AC power generation system along with a static and safe metal hydride-based storage system at its NETRA campus.
7. SOEC based high-temperature steam electrolysers.
8. Development of hydrogen production from biomass and municipal solid waste. For effective management of municipal solid waste, NTPC NETRA is also setting up a refuse derived fuel-based gasification plant to generate power and green hydrogen.
9. Setting up of Hydrogen refuelling stations at Delhi and Leh.
10. FCEBs for Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Jaipur and intercity buses for Leh.
11. Setting up a pilot project for green hydrogen of capacity 2kg/day using PEM technology at Kawas. Produced hydrogen will be blended with PNC ranging from 5% to 20%.
12. Green chemicals division to explore other possible ventures.
13. Further, NTPC is also exploring to set up a pilot plant using advanced AEM technology of latest innovation.
14. NTPC has signed MOUs with GT manufacturers for feasibility study followed by a possible pilot project for hydrogen co-firing in existing NTPC gas plants.
Energy storage system
a. NTPC has been allocated 11,550 MW of pump hydro storage to set up by MOP.
b. NTPC is in the advanced stage of awarding a contract for setting up a 3000MWh bulk storage type energy storage system in developer mode for its renewable power.
c. NTPC is exploring the feasibility of a gravity storage system for storage of RE by raising high mobile masses to height of about 150 m.
d. In addition to the above, NTPC team is working to explore efficient, economic, reliable solutions for long duration bulk storage technology.
Solar energy system
‘Project Management Consultant’ for the ISA member countries, providing PMC services:
-Togo (285 MW), Mali (500 MW), Cuba (900 MW), Malawi (100 MW), Niger (50 MW), Paraguay (500 MW), Ethiopia (410 MW), DR Congo (1000 MW), Nicaragua (100 MW), Venezuela (2000 MW) and Zambia (400 MW).
Promoting large scale floating solar projects at reservoirs saving land and evaporation losses:
-Simhadri (25 MW), Kayamkulam (92 MW) and Ramagundam (100 MW).
-NTPC commissioned India’s largest floating solar PV project of 100 MW at Ramagundam, in Telangana recently. The project is spread over 600 acres of reservoir.
NTPC Group RE status:
-Own Projects: Total: 11,100 MW (Commissioned: 2,000 MW, under implementation: 3,400 MW, Won in competitive bidding (yet to tender): 1,300 MW, Under Tendering: 4,600 MW).
-Outsourced Projects: Total: 6,800 MW (Commissioned: 4,800 MW, under implementation: 800 MW, and under tendering: 1,200 MW).
Conclusion
The journey to Net Zero is a complex journey passing through many uncertainties. The exact path is still unknown and being worked out. However, whatever the path may be, it should essentially pass through the following three tests:
a. Energy security
b. Financial security, and
c. Social security.
At this juncture of time all the institutions, government bodies, corporates, non-governmental organisations, international and multilateral institutions and all other stakeholders need to come forward and hold each other’s hand to make the transition a successful milestone in the history of mankind.
Let all the industries support each other in terms of transfer of technology, sharing knowledge and experience and capacity building.
The financing institutions – Government, Public and Private should come forward for funding the R&D efforts, financing the big projects with softer terms and conditions and viability gap funding.
Viability Gap Funding, either in the form of CAPEX or PLI, is the need of the hour, which needs policy level support from the Government of India. The government has already brought many policy level initiatives and is in the process of bringing more.
(Part 1 of the series, Power Generation: Scenario, Challenges, Mitigation and Way Forward, appeared in the May 2023 edition)
Shri M K Srivastava, Executive Director (Engineering) at NTPC Ltd, has been associated with NTPC for over three and a half decades now. He served as Executive Director (IT) and Chief General Manager (Kawas Gas Project & Shared Services Centre, Western Region earlier. With an illustrious experience of holding a spectrum of significant decision making positions throughout his tenure, he is a well known stature among the elitist brass of NTPC technocrats.
Shri M.K Srivastava played a pivotal role in the Engineering of majority of NTPC’s coal based thermal power plants, gas based combined cycle power plants and hydro power plants. He spearheaded the development of new guidelines, policies and procedures in C&I Engineering and IT and is credited with the success of new bidding processes in NTPC. He has also been associated in the commissioning of several C&I systems at site. He has contributed immensely in the development of Integrated Monitoring system for Bottom Ash Evacuation, Intelligent cable engineering and ICS software for which several copyrights have been obtained by NTPC. Under his tutelage and direction, many new initiatives, viz., digitalisation in power plants, complete water management, etc., have been undertaken.
