Adani Godda power station

From Global Energy Monitor
This article is part of the CoalSwarm coverage of India and coal.

Adani Godda power station is a proposed 1,600-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Jharkhand, India.

Location

The map below shows the location of Godda district, Jharkhand state, India but not the exact location of the project.

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Background

In February 2016 Adani Power applied for a terms of reference to build a 2 x 800 MW coal-fired power station in Godda district.[1]

On August 11, 2016, Adani Power signed an MoU with Bangladesh Power Development Board to set up a 2x800 MW thermal power plant on build-own-operate (BOO) basis in India. Adani will export the entire power generated from the power project to Bangladesh.[2]

The terms of reference was granted in July 2016. An EIA was submitted in April 2017. The plant would be ultra-supercritical.[2]

Environmental clearance was granted on August 31, 2017.[3]

According to locals in December 2018, Adani has begun uprooting trees and burial sites for the plant, and have been protected by the police. Locals have protested and Adani has retreated for now. Many locals said they have refused to accept monetary compensation for the land, on the grounds that they never agreed to give their land to the Adani Group.[4]

According to IEEFA, the tariffs quoted by the Bangladesh Power Development Board for power from the plant are not competitive, because Adani would run the facility with imported coal from Adani’s Australian Carmichael Coal Project, via the port of Dhamra, Odisha (owned by Adani Ports) some 700 kilometres away from the power plant by rail. They suggest the real reason for the plant is to prop up the prospects of Adani's proposed Carmichael megamine in Queensland through a favorable PPA for Adani.[5] In what is being seen increasingly as a three government (Australia, Bangladesh and India) subsidy operation to secure profits for Adani's Carmichael mine and Godda coal plant operations, IEEFA estimates that Bangladesh will pay the equivalent of about 6 rupees (8 U.S. cents) per kilowatt hour for Godda's output, while the price of buying power from India on the open market would be around 3 rupees.[6]

According to Scroll.in, on February 25, 2019, the Modi government cleared the way for the plant to become the first standalone power project in India to get the status and benefits of a Special Economic Zone, giving the project access to a host of duty-waivers, tax exemptions, and faster clearances. In addition, the amended guidelines mandate that all electricity generated in the SEZ be exported, meaning Jharkhand could lose its share of local electricity from the project. To enable SEZ status for the Adani project, the government had to amend 2016 guidelines that prohibited the establishment of a standalone power project inside an SEZ.[7]

In September 2019 it was reported that work on the project had begun, carried out by Chinese company Sepko Three. The coal plant is planned to be operational from 2022. According to NewsClick, "thousands have lost their lands [for the coal plant] despite rallying against the administration consistently year after year". The displaced "includes forceful acquisition of 50 acres of 40 families against their wishes."[8]

Opposition continues against the project. Minister and senior Congress leader Alamgir Alam said his party would insist that the government take a relook at the project: “Land was acquired without holding a meeting of the gram sabha. According to the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, farmers must be given four times the actual market price of land. But the BJP government deliberately ignored the provisions."[9]

Coal source

The plant will be fuelled by imported coal which the company plans to procure under long term firm agreement from countries like Indonesia, South Africa and Australia. The imported coal will be received at Dhamra Port in Odisha and be transported to the project site by rail. The annual coal requirement is estimated to be about 7-9 MTPA.[2]

Opposition

Locals report being assaulted and harassed to give over their land for the power project. According to Newslaundry, the violence was barely covered in the media: "A few local editions of language media publications carried small reports on the violence. One local journalist Nagmani told Newslaundry, 'I had footage of police lathi-charge in Motia but SDPO Abhishek Kumar forced me to delete it.'”[10]

A legal case filed at the High Court of Jharkhand by local villagers is scheduled to be heard in early August 2020. The claimants accuse Adani and its agents of using "coercion, fraud [and] undue influence" to illegally exclude thousands of people affected by the power plant development from a required social impact assessment. The court case also challenges the forced takeover of land for the development by the State Government on behalf of Adani. Under Indian law, a government can only acquire land for a private company if the project is for "public purpose". The claimants believe that the project fails to meet the definition of "public purpose" under the law. The state of Jharkhand denies all the allegations being put by the claimants and is contesting the court action. The project is also the subject of a separate environmental challenge to be heard by India's National Green Tribunal.[11]

Financing

Financial close for the project had been due to be concluded by November 2018, but by March 2019 had not yet been achieved. Adani Power was reported to be courting both international and domestic lenders for the financing of the project, with estimated costs of US$1.94 billion.[12] In September 2019, financial close was confirmed: Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation, both state-controlled financial institutions, are providing equal tranches of a US$1.4 billion loan and the promoter Adani Power is providing US$203 million in equity.[13]

Project Details

  • Sponsor: Adani Power
  • Parent company: Adani Group
  • Location: Motia, Gangta, Gayghat & other adjacent villages, Godda & Poraiyahaat Tehsils, Godda district, Jharkhand
  • Coordinates: 24.82786, 87.213676 (approximate)
  • Status: Construction
  • Capacity: 1,600 MW (2 x 800 MW)
  • Type: Ultra-supercritical
  • Projected in service: 2022
  • Coal Type:
  • Coal Source: Imported (from the Carmichael coal mine, Australia)
  • Source of financing: 80% debt financing from Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation, 20% equity financing from Adani Power
  • Permits and applications: Terms of Reference, India MoEF, July 26, 2016; EIA, Adani Power, April 2017; Environmental clearance, India MoEF, Aug 31, 2017

Articles and Resources

References

  1. ↑ Form 1, India MoEF, Feb 4, 2016
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 EIA, Adani Power, April 2017
  3. ↑ Environmental clearance, India MoEF, Aug 31, 2017
  4. ↑ "Taking Over Fertile Land For Adani Group From Protesting Farmers, Jharkhand Government Manipulates New Law Meant To Protect Them," India Spend, December 1, 2018
  5. ↑ "Adani Godda Power Project Too Expensive, Too Late, and Too Risky for Bangladesh," IEEFA, April 2018
  6. ↑ Clyde Russell, "COLUMN-Adani claims Carmichael coal win, but it's a pyrrhic victory built on subsidies: Russell," Reuters, Jul. 13, 2020
  7. ↑ "In final days of Modi government, Adani project in Jharkhand becomes India's first power sector SEZ," Scroll.in, March 25, 2019
  8. ↑ "Jharkhand: Construction Begins in Adani's Godda Plant, Villagers Dejected". NewsClick. 2019-09-07. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
  9. ↑ "Adani project on less-sure ground". The Telegraph. January 3, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Adani Power Vs The People Of Jharkhand," Newslaundry, Dec 22, 2016
  11. ↑ Stephen Long, "Adani power plant and coal plans threatened by land owner court action," ABC, Jul. 9, 2020
  12. ↑ "India approves Jharkhand power SEZ," IJGlobal, Mar 5, 2019
  13. ↑ [1] Brickworks Ratings on Adani Power (Jharkhand), Sep 9, 2019

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