Coal-based power plants are already facing water scarcity in many regions, and the situation is expected to get worse with the installation of Environmental Control Technologies (ECTs) such as Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) and Carbon Capture (CC). A systematic assessment is essential to develop adaptation strategies. With this objective, this work focuses on coal-based power generation in Rajasthan, India - a region known for its aridity and high-water stress. The work comprehensively assesses intra-annular water withdrawals for ECT-equipped coal-based power plants and their fulfilment in the face of climate change. The results show that the plant operation water withdrawals rise by 10 to 20% compared to the base plant after dry/wet FGD addition. In the case of CC implementations, the increments rise by 100 to 200%, with summer months being more water-demanding. These results entail careful planning of water management and corresponding adaptation measures. The upgradation of the boiler from sub-critical to supercritical and ultra-supercritical, and the replacement of cooling technology from wet towers to hybrid or air-cooled condensers, can lead to substantial water savings of 500-3000 l/MWh in Rajasthan. However, it comes with certain trade-offs, such as increased CO 2 emissions and reduced efficiency. While shifting to water-efficient adaptation measures such as hybrid and ACC cooling, there is a marginal increase in the LCOE of 0.5 to 0.9 INR/kWh. However, with the inclusion of ECTs and CC to the measures, the LCOE increases by 9.1 to 9.7 INR/kWh.
Shinde et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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