View Large SizeCredit:
Source: WRI. Data for power plants are from carma.org and 2008 company reports. The water stress indicators are from CGIAR/WRI/University of Kassel 2004.
WRI mapped water scarcity data with plant locations for the largest publicly listed power generation companies in Southeast Asia. 74 GW – over half of existing and planned capacity for major power companies – is located in areas that are considered to be water scarce or stressed.
1 Comment
It is true that the water
It is true that the water stress shall be one of the major points in thermal / hydro power generation. By optimal use of water and reuse, recylce and recharge methods adopted by Reliance Energy and other organisations in India can lead the industry in better utilisation of resources and investor safety. The major factor is with the State owned utilities where the energy distibution and efficiency factors are low and with pro former governamental stratagies, can make the power a source of political tool and not as a efficiency oriented operation and maintenance practices, with very low priority on water conservation in and around the plant area. The best example of MSEB, chandrapur plant couple of 500 MW units were down because of water scarcity in the month of March itself. Funding on innovative projects on water conservation need to be examined and the sate and central governament has to tackle the issue in coordination with local bodies.
The best alternative for solving the water shortage problem for power plants is to utilise the domestic sewage water form major cities and towns as many places there are shortage of treatment facilities and it may work out cheaper and to some extent sustainable.