Centre regulates coal stocks at plants having more than 15 days buffer

Frees up 177,000 tonnes coal from 26 stations

The centre has regulated coal stocks at thermal power plants that have more than 15 days of a buffer. It is expected that this frees up around 177,000 tonnes of coal from 26 power stations. An official statement said that this coal has been redistributed to the plants having supercritical and critical coal stocks at power plants. It has also been decided that issues of imported coal-based thermal power plants in Mundra will be resolved so that they can supply power and ease the pressure on domestic coal.

These decisions were taken during a meeting headed by Power Secretary, Alok Kumar on Sunday. Kumar reviewed the report of the Core Management Team (CMT) which comprises representatives from the Ministry of Power, Central Electricity Authority, Coal India (CIL) and Railways to ensure daily close monitoring of coal stock position at thermal power plants.

An official statement highlighted that around 6000 MW capacity of thermal power plants at the Western coast at Mundra designed on imported coal have around 30 days of coal stock. “These plants are not supplying power due to Power Purchase Agreement related issues. A meeting is being taken tomorrow (on Monday) by Ministry of Power to resolve the issues, so that the power from these units can contribute to the overall generation to ease pressure on domestic coal requirements,” the statement said.

Among other decisions, it has been decided to begin sourcing coal from a captive coal mine of Odisha Coal and Power Limited (OCPL) for NTPC Daralipali (2 x 800 MW). “The second Unit of NTPC Daralipali will achieve Commercial Operation from September 1, 2021 and thus additional 800 MW generation would be added in the total fleet,” the statement said.

The 1000 MW Kudankulam nuclear power station would also be back on bar before September 2 and replace some portion of coal generation, thereby reducing pressure on coal requirements.

In addition to these, one 500 MW unit under the Nevyeli Lignite Corporation (NLC) India, which was under shutdown, shall be back in service from September 1. NLC will be ready to generate more than 90 per cent of its capacity. One more unit of 250 MW which is currently under annual overhauling will be ready to be synchronized by September 10 after which all units will be available for generation achieving about 92 per cent Plant Load Factor (PLF).

“The current production of Lignite from NLC mines is to the tune of 85000 tonnes per day and it can further augment its production as per requirements. NLC will increase the production of coal from its Talabira coal mines at Odisha, which can be supplied to the willing power generation companies,” the statement said.

To further improve thermal power generation, the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) would be clearing dues to the tune of Rs 1200 crores to the different CIL subsidiaries within a week. This will augment the coal supply to different plants of DVC and lead to ramping up the power generation from DVC plants. It is expected that the PLF of DVC plants will go up from the present level of 61 per cent to 90 per cent.

All captive coal mines of State and Central generation companies have been advised to ramp up their production to augment coal stocks at their end-use plants, the statement added.