To get an overall economy we should take care of the following factors while choosing a site for steam power station

1)Supply of Fuel

The plant should be located in a place near coal mines hence the transportation cost could be reduced.If it is not able to construct a plant near the coal mines or the fuel source at least it must be considered that there are proper facilities available for the transportation of fuel ie coal to the generating station.

2) Availability of Water

A large amount of water is required for the condenser for proper cooling process so there should be natural resource nearby the plant to get continuous supply of water,It could be a river,stream or lake any water source near by.

3)Transportation Facilities

A modern steam power station requires the transport of coal as well as the machineries needed for the station.To make this facility available there should be enough roads and rails connecting generating station to different part of the country.

4) Cost and Type of Land

Since the steam power station requires a large area the cost of the land that we buy should be very cheap else it will increase the initial cost to a large amount.And the bearing capacity of the soil should be fair enough to withstand the weight of large machines.

5) Nearness to Load Centres

The plant should be located near to the load centers since it could reduce the transmission cost to a very large amount.It is much important if we have to transport D.C. power because it requires high transmission cost,But if we have to transmit A.C. power it could be transmitted a long distance without much cost and so this method could be adopted if the load centers are too far.

6) Distance from populated area

The plant should be located at a favorable distance from the populated area because daily tonnes of coal need to be burnt and the smoke and fumes produced b it will pollute the atmosphere so the people living near by area may get lung diseases and other diseases affecting chest cavity.So the plant need to be placed far away from the living areas.

Conclusion:it is not easy that all this facilities are available at a place.So the place which most meets the facilities should be taken.And better to be far away from populated areas and the power could be transmitted as A.C. power so the distance problem of load centers could be rectified to a large extend.

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