waste management

Power plant operations generate non-hazardous as well as hazardous waste. The utilisation and disposal of these wastes are governed by strict regulations. Ash is a major non-hazardous waste and a material aspect for us considering the quantity and challenges for utilisation in certain geographical areas, such as at our Tiroda plant.

The hazardous wastes generated are used oil, spent resins and empty oil containers. These wastes are disposed through authorised agencies as per the Hazardous Waste Handling and Management Rules.

Fly Ash Management

Fly ash is a solid waste arising from the process of coal-based power generation. Moist conditions are maintained in the ash pond surface to prevent fugitive emissions. In Tiroda (Maharashtra), we have installed a High Concentration Slurry Disposal (HCSD) system for ash disposal, where the ash gets solidified immediately. There has been a lot of focus by the Central Government on ash utilisation from power plants.

We have therefore developed infrastructure to handle and enable us to sell fly ash. This has helped us increase our ash utilisation supply to specialised agencies for use in cement manufacturing.

Ash utilisation is a major challenge at Tiroda due to its geographical location as all the cement plants are at a distance of more than 250 km. We have taken various initiatives, including the following, to ensure sustainable utilisation of fly ash at all operating locations, with a special focus on our Tiroda power plant:

• Development of a Fly Ash Utilisation Promotion and Research Park.
• Facility for loading fly ash in specialised railway wagons at the Tiroda power plant.
• Training and encouraging entrepreneurs to set up fly ash brick manufacturing and cenosphere collection businesses in the vicinity of our power plants. Local interested entrepreneurs have been trained during the past two years and 50 entrepreneurs have already established fly ash brick manufacturing plants.
• Installation of fly ash brick plants within our premises with a capacity of 12,000 bricks and 1,000 tiles per day for inhouse consumption. These fly ash bricks and tiles are used at all construction sites and township areas. During FY 2017-18, a total of 0.845 million fly ash bricks and 0.052 million tiles were manufactured.
• Used pond ash in bund raising in the ash dyke and made the pond ash available free of cost for roads, buildings and infrastructure development in nearby areas.
• Engagement of the Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute (AMPRI), Bhopal, which is a unit of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India, for research on fly ash utilisation for soil conditioning.
• As we need good-quality compost and manure for the green belt and landscaping at all operating power plants, we have initiated the composting of organic waste, generated at all operating locations, in blending with fly ash.

Fly Ash Stock Status