'Water a major challenge to operate thermal plants'

The Centre and the state were, on Monday, cautioned by energy experts about the impediments they could face in future, if they rely on thermal plants heavily for power generation.

Experts from the sector said availability of water would soon turn out to be a major challenge everywhere, including Karnataka, for the operation of both existing and upcoming thermal units.

They were speaking at the Cleantech Week India event organised by the Swissnex India, an initiative of the Swiss Consulate.

Deepak Krishnan, deputy director, World Resources Institute-India told DH, “stress on water” was one of the significant challenges in the
energy sector.

“There have been many instances in which thermal power plants in areas like Ballari and Raichur suffered shortage of water during peak summer. Over 40% of the thermal plants are situated in water-stressed areas. Coming up with technologies to make thermal power plants consume less water is the biggest challenge,” he said.

He said “finance” was one of the other significant challenges that distribution companies like Bescom face. The expert cited “accessibility” as another problem in the energy sector.

On the prospects of solar energy, Krishnan said, “Of the target for renewable energy generation of 175 Gigawatt by 2022, 100 GW would be from solar power. As of now, only 30 GW has been achieved.”