The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in its endeavor to control the air pollution levels in the county proposes to tighten the norms pertaining to emissions from thermal power plants and has issued a draft notification for amending the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 vide the Environment (Protection) (Amendment) Rules, 2015 (Rules), which shall come into force upon its notification in the official gazette.
The Rules envisages making it mandatory for all thermal power plants with once through cooling to install cooling tower at the thermal power plants. The Rules also mandates that specific water consumption at the thermal power plants must not exceed 4m3/MWh within two years from the date of notification of the Rules. As per the Rules all existing CT-based thermal power plants shall be required to reduce their specific water consumption which must not exceed 3.5m3/MWh during the two year period from the date of notification of the Rules. Further, as per the Rules, new thermal power plants installed and commissioned after January 1, 2017, shall be required to maintain their specific water consumption below 2.5m3/MWh.
The Rules as framed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also stipulate the emission standards for thermal power plants and sets out that all thermal power plants with installed capacity less than 500MW installed prior to December 31, 2013, must restrict its particulate matter emission within 100 mg/Nm3 and that all thermal power plants with installed capacity more than 500MW installed prior to December 31, 2013, must restrict its particulate matter emission within 200 mg/Nm3. The Rules also sets out levels of permitted emission of particulate matter for thermal power plants installed and commissioned after 2013 and mandates thermal power plants installed from January 1, 2017 onwards to restrict its emissions of particulate matter to 30mg/Nm3.
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