The Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd (GSECL) has received environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests to set up a 800 MW power unit at a cost of over Rs 4,100 crore. However, the ministry has directed GSECL to phase out and dismantle "old and inefficient" units at its Wanakbori, Ukai and Gandhinagar stations.
This 800 MW power generation unit will be the biggest in the existing coal-based Wanakbori Thermal Power Station of GSECL in Kheda district, which currently has seven units of 210 MW each.
While granting the clearance recently, MoEF has laid down certain "specific conditions" for GSECL. "Old and inefficient units, which have outlived the plant life, Unit 1, 2 and 3 of 210 MW each at Wanakbori and 120 MW units at Gandhinagar and Ukai, shall be phased out and dismantled within the next three years or before commissioning of the Wanakbori unit, whichever is earlier," the ministry stated while giving clearance on December 2.
"Life Cycle Assessment of old units — 4 to 7 of 210 MW each at Wanakbori — shall be carried out either by Central Electricity Authority or any other competent agency and vetted by CEA. In case the units are found fit for efficient operation after proposed overhauling, the ESPs (Electrostatic Precipitators) shall be replaced or retrofitted so that particulate emission does not exceed 50 mg/Nm3," it added.
The MoEF has also asked GSECL to conduct a long term study on radioactivity and heavy metals content on coal that will be used. "A mechanism for an in-built continuous monitoring for radioactivity and heavy metals in coal and fly ash shall be put in place," it said. The coal requirement of 4.17 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) for this unit will be obtained from Maccha Kata Captive Mine in Talcher, Orissa.
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