Coal inventories at power stations have started rising on the back of improved dispatch, it was noted at a meeting held by Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday with Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi and top officials of the two ministries to take stock of the fuel supply situation for electricity generation.
It was noted that coal stocks grew at power plants by 48,000 tonnes and 25,000 tonnes, respectively, on October 9 and 10 as more consignments were despatched from Coal India’s mines as the monsoon subsided in coal-bearing states. While the numbers may not appear significant, they indicate a clear reversal in the trend, which is expected to improve further as mining and loading operations pick up pace after dewatering of mines that were inundated due to concentrated rains towards September-end.
Dhanbad in Jharkhand, which is the production area of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd, for example, received 300 mm of rain for three days from September 30 against, say, 600 mm that Delhi receives in a year.
Shah’s meeting came in the backdrop of blackout bogey raised over the weekend by Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd CEO Ganesh Srinivasan and Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain, citing coal shortage at power plants feeding the national capital. While there is no denying that nearly half of the non-pithead domestic coal-fired plants are running low on fuel, it did not threaten generation as inventories were being replenished daily. The situation has been aggravated by a 30% reduction in generation by imported coal-fired plants under PPAs due to high international coal prices, while domestic coal-based power supply has gone up nearly 24% in the first half. The imported coal-based power plants have generated about 25.6 billion units against a programme of 45.7 billion units.
It was also noted that cheaper power was available from NTPC’s Dadri station but Delhi discoms were loathe to source power from the plant as they wanted to exit PPAs after 25-year validity ended, citing “high” tariff of about Rs 5-6 per unit against Rs 3-4 on the exchanges earlier. The rates, however, have risen to Rs 12-13 per unit in recent times as demand grew on uptick.
States warn of power cuts
Earlier, facing a severe power crisis due to coal shortage, many southern states have warned of massive load-shedding and asked Centre for release of coal blocks.
While Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was the first to highlight the coal crisis in thermal power stations in the country when he sought PM Narendra Modi’s intervention recently, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai said he has urged the Centre to fast-track clearances for two coal blocks allotted to Karnataka so that a power crisis linked to a coal shortage could be averted.
In Kerala, electricity minister K Krishnankutty warned that the state would have to impose load shedding if the crisis caused by shortage of coal-based power generation continues. In what could lead to an alarming situation, thermal generation in AP is supplementing just around 20 per cent of the total power requirement and discoms are gearing up for sudden power outages due to the shortage in supplies from generation centres. All the thermal power plants put together are producing around 40 million units against the state’s total consumption of 190 million units.
