Panipat, October 16
The Centre should issue a directive to create a consortium of different departments to work towards the generation of cost effective quality power. This was stated by the President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, while addressing a select gathering here this afternoon soon after dedicating to the nation the 250 MW seventh unit of Tau Devi Lal Thermal Power Station.
Dr Kalam said there was a need for a government directive for adoption of a consortium approach by the Railway and Coal ministries and the state governments to work towards the generation of cost-effective quality power, take concerted action to reduce per unit area of energy demand, convert power plant waste such as fly ash into wealth and minimise environmental pollution.
The President further said that efficient electricity generation, waste management and optimum utilisation were collective responsibilities of the state governments and many Central and state ministries. Consortium approach was the
need for working together to improve efficiency, achieve better utilisation and reduce pollution in the atmosphere, he added.
Similarly fly ash finds application in the areas of agriculture, urban development and surface transport, he said, adding that similarly municipal corporations could organise designs of commercial and household buildings which consumed 30 to 40 per cent less energy per unit area for heating, cooling and lighting.
Dr Kalam also advised the Haryana State Electricity Board to reduce the transmission and distribution losses from the existing 400 MW in respect of thermal plants to 160 MW in a phased manner within the next three years. He expressed his concern on the loss of power in transmission and distribution in the entire country, which ranged from 36 to 50 per cent which meant when we generated 1110 MW of power, the consumer got only 710 MW whereas in industrially advanced nations they would realise 950 MW.
The President said there was a need to take urgent action to remedy the situation and bring down this loss by working on a “mission mode”. Often lack of poor maintenance in the transmission and distribution systems creates situations of power loss, he said, adding that zero a defect approach in power availability was crucial to achieve a developed Haryana and thus leading to a developed India.
Dr Kalam also advised the HSEB to plan and construct a 500 MW thermal plant designed to use exclusively either bio diesel or solar energy during the 10th and 11th Plan period using Jatropha plantation and processing unit created near the plant site. There was a need to find an alternative fuel for power plants as the coal reserves were available only for some more decades.
Expressing his concern over an increased quantum of ash production with the use of coal for power generation, he advised that ash should be utilised not only from environmental considerations but also to avoid land usage for dumping ash. At present, 100 million tonnes of ash was being produced from all the thermal plants in the country, he added.
The President said the system should also be able to support smaller power generating units which generate electricity from biomass, municipal waste and micro-hydels. He also said that the total generating capacity had to be tippled for meeting the developmental targets in Haryana till 2020.
Dr Kalam also released a book, “Gaurav Gaatha”, written on late Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, on the occasion. He also planted an Ashoka sapling on the premises of the thermal plant.
