Report on minimisation of water requirement in coal based thermal power stations
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has released a report titled `Minimisation of water requirement in coal based thermal power stations`. In the study, it has said that dry condenser cooling systems offer a possible solution for power plant installation at sites where availability of water is scarce, since requirement of plant consumptive water reduces by about 80% in comparison to wet condenser cooling system. This is despite the fact that in other areas such as power output, heat rate, carbon emissions, etc. it is the wet cooling systems that are more cost-effective. Even the capital cost for a dry cooling system is higher than its counterpart for a wet system, as the former ranges between Rs 5.5 crore to Rs 5.7 crore per MW while the latter stands at Rs 5 crore per MW.