Enforcing thermal plant norms may save 3 lakh lives by 2030

NEW DELHI: Delaying

implementation

of

emission norms

for

thermal power plants

could mean

massive

health and

air pollution

costs, a new report has said.

According to an earlier study by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), most thermal power plants in the national capital region (NCR) are unprepared to meet superior emission standards by December 2019 — the deadline for NCR — slowing down the drive against air pollution in the region.

Now the new report by Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) has evaluated the costs and benefits of implementation of these standards and estimated that if the norms are enforced by 2025, over 3.2 lakh premature deaths, 5.2 crore respiratory complications requiring hospital admissions and 12.6 crore workday losses could be avoided nationally by 2030.

It has also estimated that sulphur oxide (SOx) and nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions from thermal plants will double, PM10 emissions will increase by 30% compared to the 2015 levels in the next 15 years if the new standards are not met.

The Union environment ministry notified the new emission standards in December 2015 for implementation by the end of 2017. After pushing the nationwide enforcement to 2022 due to resistance by the industry, the government is now planning to delay it further.

As far as costs are concerned, CSTEP researchers have found power producers will have to invest Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore per MW for installing pollution control technologies. Lack of domestic manufacturing capacity, and time required to buy and install the equipment may delay the implementation further. However, avoiding one premature death saves Rs 15 lakh to Rs 3 crore. “The study highlights that the monetised (health) benefits outweigh the

costs

,” the report states.

It recommends that as the initial costs are high, the government must consider creating a grant corpus of Rs 93,500 crore or a subsidy scheme for time-bound implementation of the norms by new thermal power plants over a one-year window. The older plants can ask for tariff revisions to accommodate the cost. The steep cost of installing pollution control equipment may lead to an increase of 25 to 75 paise per kWh in electricity tariff, say scientists.