OREANDA-NEWS. In a firm endorsement to Essar Power Gujarat’s environment credentials, Peabody, the largest private sector coal mining company globally, bestowed two awards of Advanced Energy for Life - Clean Coal Awards to the company at the recently concluded Power Gen 2015 Conference at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. These awards were for the lowest Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) emission for all coal fired power plants in India, and for lowest Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emission amongst all coal fired power plants in the country.

Essar Power Gujarat, which operates the 1,200 MW coal fired power plant in Salaya, Devbhumi Dwarka district, Gujarat, achieved SO2 emission of 0.87gms/kWh (average for US power plants is  about 1.8 gms/kWh), and NOx emission of 0.19 gms/kWh (average of top 10 US power plants is 0.30 gms/kWh).  EPGL was successful in getting this award due to use of low NOx, tangential fired burners and use of low sulphur coal with high moisture.

“We are very happy to receive the prestigious Perbody awards, which is a validation of our commitment of running a thermal power plant in the most environment friendly way possible. Our Salaya plant’s emission levels compare with the some of the best power plants in the United States of America, especially on the NOx levels,” said Ramesh Kumar, Managing Director, Essar Power Gujarat Ltd.

The awards were earlier confined to the power plants in the United States and this is the first time that they are given in India by Peabody. The award criteria is stringent and the data collected is analysed by a specialist team based out of the United States. The statistics of the emission level achieved by EPGL was presented by Mr. Jacob A Wiliams, Vice President, Global Energy Analytics, Peabody Energy, US to a distinguished audience comprising of power sector dignitaries of the country. The Awards, given by Shri Devendra Chaudhary IAS, Special Secretary Power -Government of India, were received by Team Salaya, represented by Ramesh Kumar, Managing Director, Mayank Doshi, Chief Operating Officer and Ashwani Raina, Head -Coal Sourcing.

About Essar Power
Essar Power is one of India's leading private power producers with over 14-year operating track record. Essar Power owns power plants in India and Canada with a total generation capacity of 6,700 MW.