Hyderabad: The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is comprehensively exploring opportunities to enter the coal gasification sector by transforming the company into a diversified energy enterprise, SCCL chairperson and managing director Buddhaprakash Jyoti said.In a meeting with the director general of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) under the ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Srikanth Nagulapally, the CMD briefed him on the initiatives being taken by SCCL in the field of coal gasification.The CMD said that Engineers India Limited (EIL) had carried out a feasibility study for establishing a 400 tonnes per day Ammonium Nitrate Melt plant on the Singareni Thermal Power Plant (STPP) premises. He said that at present, the project’s return on investment is not sufficiently encouraging.As a result, SCCL is exploring various alternatives to improve the project’s viability, including enhancing the plant capacity, availing the Central govt’s viability gap funding (VGF) support, and adopting indigenous technologies. He informed that a team of SCCL officials would visit major coal gasification projects, including Talcher, MCL–BHEL, and JSPL, later this month to study their operations. Simultaneously, techno-economic studies are also underway to assess the feasibility of surface coal gasification projects in the Bheemaram, Chennur South, and Naini areas.With regard to Underground Coal Gasification (UCG), the CMD stated that SCCL has identified five deep coal blocks in Bellampalli and Ramagundam regions as potential sites.Preparations are currently in progress to undertake the first pilot project in the Bellampalli dip-side block, including drilling operations. The project will be implemented under the technical guidance of scientists from the Central Mine Planning & Design Institute/CSIR-CIMFR.
