Thermal power plants face coal shortage

Stocks barely sufficient to last one week

The five thermal plants in Andhra Pradesh are facing severe shortage of coal and they have stocks barely sufficient for a week.

The Union government's ban on the use of the French 'Blasting Gallery' technology has affected the coal production of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), as four of its mines stopped production from April 1, 2004, following the ban.

Notwithstanding the acute shortage of coal supplies in the state as well as the entire country, the Centre banned the use of P2-based explosives following the PWG's bid on the life of the then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. According to sources, the P2-based explosives are used in the making of bombs, which can be detonated through wireless or remote devices.

However, APGenco officials say that there is no cause for immediate worry, though the coal stock position in the power utility's thermal plants is not satisfactory. "We have already urged SCCL and Mahanadi Coal (MCL), Talcher, to increase the coal supplies to our units," Sambasiva Rao, director (thermal) of APGenco, said.

Save for Rayalaseema Thermal Power Project (RTPP) of Muddanur in Kadapa district, which has stocks that will last for 10 days, the stocks are very meagre at the two other major stations of the state power utility at Kottagudem (KTPS) and Vijayawada (VTPS). KTPS has coal linkage with SCCL and has stocks that will last for the next six days.

The stocks at VTPS, which gets coal from MCL, will last only for the next five days. The production loss at the four mines of SCCL since April 1 is around 1.5 lakh tonnes. SCCL installed four Blasting Gallery machines at each of the mines during the 1980's at a cost of around Rs 50 crore each.

The present situation is such that the thermal plants cannot afford even a small loss production in the collieries. Singareni has a total of 55 underground mines and 12 opencast mines.

According to the central government's norms, only pithead stations are allowed to have one week's stocks. Others will have to maintain the coal stocks sufficient enough to meet the requirements of individual power plants for at least 15 days.

Sources said that the situation in some parts of the country is even grimmer. One of the NTPC plants outside the state is said to be facing the hand-to-mouth situation with regard to coal supplies. With coal imports already suffering on account of limited availability of ships, lack of exploration of new mines is slated to become a major stumbling block for the industrial growth. The demand for Singareni coal is said to be around 45 million tonnes as against the current production of around 34-35 million tonnes.

The Centre needs to expedite the approval for the proposed new mines in the areas under SCCL as fresh supplies of coal are urgently needed to ease the demand, the SCCL officials point out.

Giving top priority to the power sector, SCCL is trying to ensure continuous supplies to the thermal plants in the state that have coal linkages from the company. "We are currently cutting supplies for other requirements," an official said. The Centre should immediately take measures to facilitate the coal imports in bulk quantities to ease out the current crisis, he added.

Power Equations

Centre's ban on use of P2-based explosives led to ceasing of production at the four Singareni Collieries' mines.

The production loss on account of ban since April 1 is around 1.5 lakh tonnes.

Though the loss of production is a fraction of Singareni's total capacity, it is aggravating the current coal shortage situation in the state.

Singareni cuts short supplies for industries other than the power sector.

Pointing to the gravity of the situation, Singareni officials say the centre needs to act immediately on giving go-ahead for the proposed new mines as well as facilitating coal imports in bulk quantities.