Coal based power plant is an age old innovation of mankind. Throughout history it was found that climate change is aggravated by industrialization and coal based power plant is one of the reasons for such environmental degradation. Coal based power plant has been proven to be an unsustainable solution for every country as coal is a non renewable source of energy. Major emissions from the coal thermal based power plants are SO2, CO2, and NOx.
Bangladesh has huge population in a very small area. Natural gas reserve is depleting as recent gas demands are increasing in many sectors. So Government of Bangladesh has decided to install new coal based power plants for future power generation expansion. North-West Power Generation Company Limited, an Enterprise of Bangladesh Power Development Board) along with CMC, China have planned to install a new 1320 MW coal based thermal Power Plant in Patuakhali district covering areas of Dhankhali Union under Kalapara Upazila in Bangladesh .
According to the Environment Conservation Rules 1997, the proposed coal based thermal power plant 1320 MW falls under the Red Category. Thus EIA was carried out for the project, but it is clear that principal of sustainability was not followed thoroughly here. Three pillars of sustainability comprise of economic, environment and social. This project gives more emphasis on the economic gain and industrialization while it underestimates the value of the environment and ignores the real cost and externalities of environment pollution. So rational are presented to convince that the project is not viable.
Ignoring potential accidents
Primary fuel (type) for this project is Bituminous/ sub bituminous coal having GCV of 4700-5500 Kcal/kg. Annual coal requirement is 4.12 MT/year. According to planning, the coal for the proposed project will be imported from foreign countries through sea & river transportation, and Indonesia will be the major source of coal supply. There was no adequate information about the hydrology and navigation channel of Rabnabad Channel which will be primarily used for coal transportation, only preliminary estimates were provided for the route in the EIA. According to the estimation at least 27 days will take to transport coal from the loading wharf of Indonesia to Bangladesh where the project is located. So the voyage time is substantially long and there is a significant risk of accidents which was ignored in the EIA. Bangladesh is naturally extremely vulnerable to natural disaster, particularly due to its proximity to the Bay of Bengal. The project area is adjacent to Bay of Bengal. Thus any accident in the voyage will pollute sea and affect the marine biodiversity significantly.
Inadequate economic analysis
Internal investment IRR considering income tax of the project is 14%.The investment cost and economic index of the project mentioned in the EIA doesn’t fully cover the cost benefit analysis considering environmental and ecological valuation and risk of potential hazard.
Inappropriate environmental valuation
Impact on ecosystem is underestimated significantly and the future value of the tourism of the spot was totally ignored in the EIA.
Water pollution
During the rainy season ground water may be impacted from the ash dumping location by waste water leaching, the consequences of the incidence is major and irreversible. On the other hand, the project will create extra pressure on both surface and ground water sources not only during the implementation of the project from various sources but also from mitigation activities- such as for generation of fugitive dust particle water will be spayed.
Noise pollution
Noise generation will also be very high and irreversible. Controlling these will be a very big challenge as it has long term impact particularly on both physical and mental health.
Impact on soil
There is also a possibility of runoff and areal deposition from uncovered coal piles which may contaminant the soil with heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, chromium, and cadmium present in the coal. This will have long term impact on soil, agriculture and human health.
Impact on biodiversity
Overall impact on biodiversity is significant. However, disturbance to Dolphin movement in Rabnabad Channel and reduction of overall fish production are two long term and irreversible direct consequences of the project.
Waste management
During operation, coal dust, bottom ash and domestic waste may also be the major types of solid waste, which may be generated from the plant. About the mitigation of generation of construction material waste, it was stated that construction wastes must be reused or recycled where possible but burning of waste material should be restricted. It is believed this will be very challenging as it needed to provide training to the workers, whereas in Bangladesh most of the laborers are illiterate and it is difficult for them to grasp the concept of different colored waste bin for dumping biodegradable, reusable and recyclable wastes etc.
Air pollution
Finally, emission of CO2 will also be very high and irreversible. emission of Green house gases is the major impact of this plant, but in mitigation section of the EIA, very little and insignificant measures were mentioned which directly states that Consequence with mitigation measures adopted is very insignificant.
The project has only positive impact on Socio-economic environment such as it will create employment and increase rural electrification, while it ignores the environmental negative impacts; devalue the environment by ignoring the need of future generation. The project only follows weak sustainability by ignoring the fact that man made capital is not the substitute of natural capital. The project has hidden cost and if implemented it will destroy the environment in the long run. This project is not sustainable. Furthermore, hazard assessment of EIA shows that the project is also very risky. So this project should be stopped immediately.
Data source: Environmental impact assessment (EIA) Study of Payra 1320 MW Thermal Power Plant Project. Prepared for Bangladesh-China Power Company (PVT.) Limited (A Joint Venture Company of CMC and NWPGCL), September 2015.
