The Hindu Business Line : Power project developers asked to prune land usage

New Delhi, June 3 With land acquisition increasingly proving an uphill task for big-ticket infrastructure projects across the country, the Centre is advocating austerity in use of land for setting up of thermal power projects.

The benchmark land requirement estimates for large-sized thermal power, especially for the Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs), are being reworked based on international best-practices with a view to encourage project developers to prune land usage for thermal stations in a phased manner by up to 40 per cent of current usage levels.

The twin pronged advantages of a downward revision in land usage in setting up projects include faster project acquisition, besides lower project costs, according to Government officials involved in the exercise.

The move comes in the wake of a recent study by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) that point to ample scope for reducing land requirement for domestic power projects, besides a series of interactive workshops with representatives from the German power sector.

Land acquisition problems are plaguing a number of 4,000 MW UMPPs on the anvil, with at least three of these projects, namely Girye in Maharashtra, Tadri in Karnataka and Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu, reported to be facing difficulties in acquiring land.

“The CEA has done a study that shows land requirement for thermal power plants can be brought down by 10-40 per cent in most cases. We have also got an insight into the Germany model, where utilities operate the thermal plant in a much smaller area. The idea is to right-size the land requirement benchmark as current estimates of land usage at domestic projects offer significant scope for cuts in land use,” a Government official involved in the exercise said.

The land requirement of Indian thermal stations fired by domestic coal has generally been on the higher side, as compared to international benchmarks, mainly on account of the high ash content in indigenous coal, requiring the construction of ash dykes.

Townships

Besides, domestic projects also earmark land for developing townships around the area and allowing for green belt areas.

Officials, however, contend that there is still considerable scope to reduce land use, especially in case of mega projects.

According to CEA estimates, around 1,600 acres of land would be required for setting up a 5x800 MW imported coal-based thermal power project, such as the Mundra UMPP in Gujarat, for which around 3,500 acres have been earmarked.

“While deliberating the land requirement projected for coal-based thermal power stations, especially for the proposed UMPPs, it was seen that much larger area was being made use for setting up coal-based thermal power stations in our country in comparison to lower land use reported in other countries.

“A right-sizing of land requirement benchmarks could in turn expedite project execution schedules in the long run, especially for larger projects,” a CEA official said.

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