India’s state-owned NTPC Ltd is the world’s sixth-largest polluter among a total of 40 large power generating companies, according to the Centre for Global Development (CGD), a Washington-based think tank. Also, NTPC has moved up the list of highest carbon dioxide (CO2)-emitting companies globally from seventh position in 2004 to sixth now.
The findings are part of CGD’s latest database on global carbon emissions, called Carbon Monitoring for Action (Carma). Four Chinese companies are among the top polluters, followed by a South African company at the fifth place. Carma clarified to Business Standard that while its database lists 20,000 corporate entities generating power globally, most of these small companies owning a single plant, NTPC should be compared only with the 40 large similar-sized companies.
The previous updated version of the database, when made public in 2008, had fuelled angry reactions from NTPC, with the then chairman, R S Sharma, rejecting the findings and threatening action against Carma.
The database says NTPC’s 27 power plants puffed out 191 million tonnes of CO2 to generate 209.7 billion units (BUs) of electricity in 2009, the latest year for which data has been considered by Carma. More, 20 of the 27 units run by NTPC have been included in the ‘Red Alert’ category, signifying a ‘dirty’ plant for high CO2 emission.
NTPC, as expected, has again rejected what Carma has said. “NTPC does not agree with the understanding that NTPC is the sixth-largest polluter, as absolute emission cannot be a criteria for any conclusion related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, as different companies across the globe have different portfolio mix,” the company said in response to a detailed questionnaire from Business Standard.
The company argues that according to Carma’s own database, NTPC is the only company among the top 10 power producers with a 100 per cent fossil fuel-based portfolio. It also says when compared with other companies on the basis of emission intensity (quantum of CO2 emitted per unit of power generated), NTPC stands out as most efficient among the top 10 generators, with a more than 90 per cent fossil-fuel mix.
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The Carma database, in fact, shows that in terms of intensity, NTPC ranks eighth among the top 40 power producing companies globally. NTPC emitted 915 kg of CO2 per megawatt hour (MwH) of power produced. China Resources Power Holdings tops the list as least efficient generator with 1,010 kg of CO2 emission per MwH of power production.
Carma says for India, most of its reported data represents publicly disclosed figures by the government. Data on Indian power plants has been sourced from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) under the power ministry.
NTPC, however, alleges that Carma’s emission figures for NTPC plants do not match with the CEA statistics. The company expects its carbon footprint to come down, due to use of super-critical power plants and advanced gas turbines. It is also working on readjusting its fuel mix by adding green energy capacity, it said.
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| Rank | Company | Country | Emission | Generation | Intensity | Share of fossil fuel (%) |
| 1 | China Huaneng Group Corp | China | 416,990,000 | 440,010,000 | 948 | 93.1 |
| 2 | China Datang Corp | China | 325,680,000 | 366,850,000 | 888 | 88.3 |
| 3 | China Guodian Corp | China | 312,980,000 | 339,550,000 | 922 | 90.7 |
| 4 | China Huadian Group Corp | China | 306,940,000 | 333,190,000 | 921 | 88.8 |
| 5 | Eskom | South Africa | 215,910,000 | 227,770,000 | 948 | 94.4 |
| 6 | NTPC Ltd | India | 191,860,000 | 209,700,000 | 915 | 100.0 |
| 7 | China Power Investment Corp | China | 167,630,000 | 221,530,000 | 757 | 73.6 |
| 8 | Southern Co | United States | 145,140,000 | 187,340,000 | 775 | 82.6 |
| 9 | American Electric Power Company Inc | United States | 128,620,000 | 136,790,000 | 940 | 93.4 |
| 10 | E.ON AG | Germany | 120,280,000 | 238,770,000 | 504 | 64.5 |
| Source: Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) Database (www.carma.org) Emission figures in Metric Tons CO2, Generation figures in Net MwH, Intensity figures in Kilogram CO2 per MwH | ||||||
Overall, India is found to be the world's third-largest CO2 polluting nation, after China with annual emission of 2,838 mt and the US with 2,315 mt. India emitted 699.4 mt of CO2 in 2009. Carma has put 568, or 27 per cent, of India’s 2,109 power plants in the ‘Red Alert’ category. After India, Russia and Japan occupy the fourth and fifth places.
Among Indian states, Uttar Pradesh tops the list with annual CO2 emission of 84.3 mt, followed by Maharashtra with 70 mt, Andhra Pradesh with 65.8 mt, Chhattisgarh with 61 mt, Orissa with 61 mt and Gujarat with 59 mt.
Among Indian cities, Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh is the largest polluter, with 60 mt of CO2 emissions, followed by Renukoot and Obra in Uttar Pradesh, and Korba, Raigarh and Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. Among power companies in India, NTPC tops the chart, followed by the state power utilities of Maharashtra and Gujarat at second and third place.