Outages at power units halve: Centre
The number of plants which were under outage (not operating) due to a coal shortage halved on Thursday, showed recent data by grid operator Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO).
According to POSOCO, the total capacity of units under outage reduced to 5 Gw on Thursday, from 11 Gw on Tuesday.
A shortage of coal after August left several thermal power plants with 1-2 days of stocks. Several units were forced to shut down generation after they ran out of coal. State miner Coal India (CIL) on Monday said it had scaled up supplies to power utilities of the country to 1.61 million tonne (mt) a day during the past four days of October.
The average supply during the last 12 days has touched 1.56 mt, which the company said is a 24 per cent growth over corresponding period last year.
Since August, coal stock levels at thermal units have dwindled. Currently, 36 Gw of power generation capacity has one day of coal stock and 20 Gw has less than three days of coal, according to the National Power Portal.
While the Union Ministry of Power and Coal initially denied reports of coal shortage and an electricity supply crisis, the Centre later asked thermal power generators to import coal for at least 10 per cent blending, citing shortage of domestic coal supply.
“During the August-september period, the share of coal-based generation increased to 66 per cent, from 62 per cent in 2019. As a consultant, total coal consumption during the same period increased 18 per cent over the corresponding period in 2019. However, supply from Coal India is not commensurate with the requirement,” said a notice from the fuel management division of the Central Electricity Authority, the technical arm of the power ministry.
It further said the coal stock at power plants was fast depleting and currently stood at 7.3 million tonnes (mt).
On Thursday, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said closure of some mines and inundation of a few others due to monsoon led to the coal crisis, according to PTI, a reversal from the official position of the ministry.
However, he added that there was no need to panic as the situation was improving.
Coal India executives said the company would be able to touch 1.8 mt of supply by the end of this month. “The daily supply has already surpassed demand, so the coal stock position will touch a comfortable position soon,” said the executive.
Several states have expressed panic over the shortage of coal, including the national capital. Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Kerala have made requests to the Centre to divert more coal to power generation units in their state.