Dirty Coal Raising its Head Disguised as “Clean Coal”
www.island.lk, 08th February 2020, By Eng. Parakrama Jayasinghe
This is the title of my article published in the Island Newspaper in 2017. I am compelled to repeat this message updated to the present circumstances in the light of the most uninformed article published by Dr. Kamal Wickremasinge ( Dr K W ) in the Island newspaper on 29th January 2020. Dr KW has waxed eloquent why new coal plants should be built at Norochcholai primarily based on his denial of the reality of Climate Change. He is in distinguished company with the likes of President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Scott Morrison , who have chosen to ignore the evidence in front of their eyes when their countries are burning on one side while the other side is covered by piles of snow and flood waters. Dr. KW is entitled to his opinion and it appears that Sri Lanka too does not lack the deniers of climate change adopting a singularly ostrich like attitude.
However, the problem faced by us here in Sri Lanka are much more compelling and urgent than the very real dangers of Climate Change which will only engulf us gradually. I will not try to spell out these dangers at present as there are enough data and projections freely available. There is a widespread attempt to play down the contribution to global warming and climate change by Sri Lanka, on the pretext that our carbon emissions are at a low level, well below the acceptable world average that the UNFCCC has declared to aim at the critical 2 degree limit on the Global warming by 2050.
However, to the credit of past President Maithripala Sirisena, Sri Lanka ratified the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDG) of the United Nations and was an early signatory to the Paris Accord on Climate Change in 2015. Once more credit is due to Past President Sirisena for shooting down a Cabinet Proposal submitted by two of his senior ministers in 2017 to install two more coal power plants.
But unfortunately the constant pressure by the oil and coal mafia in the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), fully supported by the officials of the Ministry of Power and Energy, have never been let up, in their efforts to engulf the whole country in coal dust and more dangerously the multitude of other invisible toxins. Therefore the sad reality is that both CEB and the Central Environment Authority (CEA) have chosen to ignore the damage that they are already causing by the current Norochcholai coal power plant to Sri Lanka in general, and to the hapless villagers living around the Norochcholai power plant. Their decades long complaints, ever since the first coal power plant was commissioned in 2011, have fallen on deaf years. The attempts by some well-meaning organizations to get them some redress have been embroiled in the labyrinth of the Sri Lankan judiciary system.
Two more coal power plants at Norochcholai
In this back ground the CEB and the Cabinet of Ministers have recently approved the immediate implementation of two more coal power plants at Norochcholai and further additions in Trincomalee. Knowing the level of intelligence and the lack of commitment to national interest of our politicians of whatever colour or creed, this decision does not come as a surprise.
All these manipulations led me to republish my article ” Dirty Coal raising its head disguised as ” Clean Coal” on 21st December 2019 in the Island.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=215718
However, my attempt appears to be in vain as even intelligent citizens like Dr KW seems not to have learned that there is no such animal called “Clean Coal.” As the well-known stanza says in the following article.
http://www.bioenergysrilanka.lk/clean-coal-there-is-no-such-animal/
And with the Sinhala Translation on www.wedabima.lk.
However, in the hope that at least now, when the Cabinet of Ministers too seems to have been hoodwinked by the crooks and wheeler dealers, whom the Supreme Court itself found reason to comment on, attempt to cause further untold misery to the people of Norochchcolai and accumulate tons and tons of toxic pollutants on the Sri Lankan soil, this is a further attempt to re-emphasize this danger.
What needs to be highlighted is that, these pollutants will bio accumulate in the Sri Lanka’s environment year after year, without any possibility of removal once released to the eco system.
Least Cost Generation Option
But before I list out the enormity of this folly, it is important to recognize the interesting ploy planned by the CEB. Hitherto the principle of “Least Cost Generation Option” was the watch word of the CEB in their past attempts to promote coal based power generation. No one can find fault with this principle which should read “Least Economic Cost Option” as stated in the Electricity Act. Although CEB and various experts promoting coal power have been publishing all sorts of numbers purported to be the cost of generation using coal, the CEB’s own submissions to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) on their bulk purchase cost have revealed the true cost of generation in 2018 as Rs. 14.00 per kWh without any provision for the recovery of capital costs. If this component is also added the cost would reach a level of Rs 18.00 per kWh. The addition of the cost of externalities (health and environmental costs) will take the total cost above Rs 24.00 per kWh.
The fallacy of the numbers published in the public media was further confirmed by the findings of the PUCSL in their evaluation of the Long Term Electricity generation Plan 2018-2037 submitted by the CEB. The PUCSL report available in the public domain (www.pucsl.gov.lk) clearly states that Coal is not the least cost option.
This is in fact the reality all over the world, even in countries like Australia and USA both of whom have vast indigenous coal reserves. An interesting editorial in a South African newspaper states.
Quote “… Coal no longer makes sense. It pollutes rivers and fills our lungs with poison. It is the source of massive corruption, state capture and patronage networks that go all the way to the leadership of this country. It drives the climate crisis, which is already destroying communities and threatens to undo all the achievements of this democratic country. Coal is also unaffordable, and as the president noted this week, banks will not finance it.” Unquote
(https://mg.co.za/article/2019-12-13-00-coal-is-destroying-south-africa-renewables-are-the-future) an editorial in the Mail & Guardian, a leading South African news paper)
It appears that the CEB has now realized that they can no longer count on the “least cost principle” to obtain the approval of the PUCSL, which is the legal requirement under the prevailing Electricity Act, for their proposed new “Clean Coal” plants. These would definitely require higher capital and operating costs than the conventional coal power plants further driving up the cost of generation.
So true to form, if the recent news items in the public media are to be believed, they propose that with the ready support of the Ministry which appear to be governed by the CEB rather than the other way around, they demand that the Electricity Act should be amended to remove this requirement for new generation plants to abide by the Least Economic Cost principle. It would be recalled that when the PUCSL rejected their last LTGEP plan, the CEB engineers union was agitating to dismantle the regulator PUCSL. The former minister went so far as to prepare a Cabinet Paper to this effect.
Having witnessed the recent history of various state activities in Sri Lanka in many sectors, one should not be surprised if the Cabinet of Ministers would even pass this ludicrous proposal.
But as a last attempt hoping that sanity would prevail at this last stage and the government would realize that it is being blackmailed, I list below the disaster that awaits poor Sri Lanka and its helpless citizens including those openly promoting more and more coal power plants.
What about Clean Coal ?
The true facts on the potential for reduction of carbon emissions and other pollutants have been published in the website https://reneweconomy.com.au. Accordingly the only positive effect will be a reduction of about 14% of specific coal consumption by adopting the very high pressure systems to reach the Ultra Super Critical operating phase, achieved at much higher capital cost and operating costs.
The reduction of other pollutants such as Oxides of Sulfur will require very efficient cleaning systems kept in good working condition, involving further costs. If the intention is truly to achieve a cleaner emission then the other more critical pollutants such as Mercury and other heavy metals as well as the radioactive nucleoids also will need to be cleaned adding much more to the cost , both capital and operation. These are currently being ignored by Sri Lanka.
In the case of Sri Lanka, the degree of flue gas cleaning, however strict, is of no consequence, as all what we can do, even if 100% capture is possible, is to trap them from the Chimney and transfer them to the ground and to the ground water table. All pollutants particularly Mercury and Heavy Metals will accumulate forever in Sri Lankan Eco System, in addition to the SOx, NOx and the particulate matter (PM). The efficiency of removing these is of no relevance as these pollutants will continue to accumulate in the Sri Lankan Eco system year after year The greater danger is from those other toxic stuff which we don’t even mention in Sri Lanka. The impact of mercury emissions is already proven as the tests on hair samples of the villagers indicate levels 10-15 time higher than the permitted WHO standards.
What does this mean in way of pollution?
The estimated amounts of different pollutants in coal are given in the table below assuming the coal consumption values for a super critical plant.
Table 2 – Potential Quantities of Pollutants imported with the Coal
The reality is that the more toxic pollutants that are inevitable in tandem with the other general pollutants are not even mentioned. There are no attempts at all to even capture these before being emitted uncontrolled to the environment.
What is the Alternative?
There is no gainsaying that Sri Lanka does require a rapid and safe expansion of its electrical supply to promote the development activities. The projected demand is estimated to reach Peak Demand of 4,872 MW and 28,573 GWh by the year 2030. Can this demand be met without resorting to more and more coal power plants?
In response to a challenge made by the Minster of Power and Energy, a feasible alternate action plan in summary has been submitted to him on 16th January 2020. This can be viewed on,
CEB demands immediate implementation of the two coal power plants for urgent energy requirements and has misled His Excellency the President that the first unit can be commissioned in two years. This is an impossible target, unless they plan to violate all the regulatory and environmental protection legislation in force, such as a proper EIA for the project. The many news items lends credence to this intention.
However, a viable alternative does exist to generate the equivalent quantum of energy using the existing switch yard and transmission system available in Norochcholai and making use of a mere 2% of the water surface of the Puttalam lagoon. Please visit the proposal published in the Financial Times by Dr Vidura Ralapanawa.
Therefore our request to the proponents of “Clean Coal” is to do their sums again as the myth of cheap power from coal cannot be sustained. The general public is well advised not to be taken in by these offers of clean coal without consideration of the above realities.
Sri Lanka has enough and more clean and environmentally friendly energy resources to last us forever. What is lacking is the political will to expose the charlatans who prevent the realization of this goal. It is hoped that His Excellency the President will demand the realistic action plan to achieve his target of 80 % Renewable Energy by year 2030 without being misled.