The state energy department has lashed out at Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a Coal India subsidiary, over inferior and inconsistent coal supplies to Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), the only state owned thermal power producer. MCL is supplying coal from its Lakahanpur mines to OPGC which runs two 210 MW units at Ib valley near Jharsuguda.
“The state is going through a period of power crisis. In this situation, it is necessary that there is optimum utilisation of the existing units. In the instant case, quality of coal supply to Ib thermal power station of OPGC from Lakhanpur mines of MCL has been quite poor and inconsistent,” the outgoing energy secretary G Mathivathanan wrote to A N Sahay, chairman and managing director (CMD) of MCL.
Owing to despatch of inferior coal by MCL, the generation from each unit of OPGC is going below 140 MW even though the power station is feeding coal at a rate much more than the design.
The energy department has asked MCL to restore supplies of standard coal quality at the earliest to ensure that the OPGC power station runs at optimum capacity. The energy secretary's letter follows a previous communication sent to MCL CMD by director (operations) of OPGC on July 23, complaining over coal quality issues. MCL officials could not be reached for comments.