India's coal power sector — 210 GW of installed capacity, with 30–40 GW under construction — is the backbone of India's electricity supply and the largest single source of India's CO₂ emissions at approximately 900 MT/year. Attempts to accelerate coal retirement face insurmountable obstacles: stranded asset costs in the trillions of rupees, power supply deficits that would devastate industrial competitiveness, and the absence of sufficient firm renewable capacity to replace baseload coal generation on India's development timeline.
India's 2070 Net Zero target — not 2050 — reflects this reality. CCUS on existing coal power stations is therefore not a marginal option but a central pillar of India's energy transition strategy. NCM's coal power advisory identifies the 80–100 GW priority cohort — newer, larger, more efficient plants where CCUS investment is commercially justified — and develops the plant-level and cluster-level feasibility assessments needed for FID.
Installed coal power capacity — 70% of India's electricity
Annual CO₂ from coal power — India's single largest emission source
Priority CCUS candidate capacity — post-2010 supercritical and ultra-supercritical units
India's Net Zero target — coal managed transition required, not immediate retirement
Post-combustion PCC retrofit — amine scrubbing downstream of existing flue gas treatment — is the most relevant near-term technology for India's existing coal fleet. Best candidates are supercritical and ultra-supercritical units above 500 MW built after 2010, operated by NTPC, Adani Power, and Tata Power. Australia's Boundary Dam (1 MT/year PCC on coal power) and the Callide oxy-fuel project provide the primary operational reference data that NCM applies to Indian plant assessments.
IGCC pre-combustion — gasifying coal to syngas, shifting to H₂ + CO₂, capturing CO₂ pre-combustion, and burning hydrogen — is applicable to new coal capacity additions. Higher efficiency and higher CO₂ capture rate (90%+) than PCC retrofit but higher greenfield capital cost. NTPC has studied IGCC deployment. CCS-readiness specifications for new coal units could reduce future retrofit cost by 30–40%.
NCM's coal power plant screening methodology identifies priority CCUS candidates based on five criteria: remaining operating life (20+ years remaining), unit size (500 MW+ preferred), plant technology (supercritical/USCSC), water availability, and proximity to CO₂ storage. Applying this to India's published coal fleet data identifies approximately 80–100 GW of high-priority candidates — primarily post-2010 units in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.
NCM is engaged with NTPC on the design of India's first coal power CCUS demonstration project — a 500 MW unit with integrated post-combustion capture and CO₂ storage in a Gondwana basin saline aquifer. This demonstration project, structured for ADB's Energy Transition Mechanism co-financing, is intended to provide the proof of concept that unlocks large-scale Indian coal CCUS deployment.
NCM's coal power advisory operates at both fleet and plant levels. Fleet-level work supports NTPC, state utilities, and MoP with strategic analysis — identifying priority clusters, modelling national CCUS impact, and designing financing frameworks. Plant-level work conducts site-specific PCC feasibility assessments — flue gas characterisation, steam extraction integration, water balance, CO₂ compression requirements, and storage corridor mapping. Both levels are required for FID: the strategic framework provides policy and financing conditions; the plant assessment provides the specific technical and economic basis for investment.
NCM is also developing CCS-readiness specification recommendations for India's 30–40 GW of coal capacity currently under construction — advocating for design modifications that would reduce future PCC retrofit capital cost by 30–40%, protecting long-term asset value at minimal incremental construction cost.
Whether you are a government body seeking policy advice, an industrial company facing CBAM exposure, or an investor seeking CCUS project opportunities — our team is ready to engage.