The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (Tidco), a publicly-owned company, intends to build a 1000 MW power plant fuelled with orimulsion. The company believes that unlike naphtha, orimulsion offers price stability and agreements will ensure long-term supplies. High sulphur content, the company concedes, is the main drawback.
The decision follows continued delay in launching a number of liquid fuel projects. Of 20 proposed, only five have received approval.
The Indian government recently directed the Central Electricity Authority and the National Thermal Power Corp. to investigate the possibility of using orimulsion as an alternative fuel for power generation. India depends heavily on domestic coal for its power supply, and orimulsion can, it has been argued, be burned in coal fired plants.
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board is believed to have carried out a study into the use of orimulsion in its own coal fired power plants. These generally burn high-ash domestically produced coal.