Talcher Super Thermal Power Plant (TSTPP), Kaniha of NTPC incurred generation loss of 2,032 million unit of power as well as 10.06 per cent PlF loss during the current year due to coal shortage, revealed NTPC ED VB Fadnavis. The total loss is about Rs 120 crore, he informed.
Addressing mediapersons, Fadnavis told that NTPC received 85 per cent of coal of its Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) with the MCl during the current year, which is 2 per cent less than the previous year. The TSTPP has also reduced coal import from 15 per cent to 12 per cent. But due to the present inconsistent domestic coal supply, it has planned to increase import of coal, Fadnavis told.
However, the timely operation and production of coal from Kaniha mine has eased the problem to some extent and boosted the power production of the plant, he maintained.
Going in details about the company’s plan to tackle the situation, Fadnavis told that the NTPC, at its corporate level, is seeking an expression of interest from third parties for import of coal for up to 15 years. Indonesia, Australia, South Africa and the United States are the top coal exporters to India. NTPC’s top supplier Coal India ltd (CIl) accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s coal output. But its inability to raise output in line with demand has created problem in power generation and made India the third highest importer of fuel in the world despite its world’s fifth-largest reserves, he said.
He expressed concern over the fact that India’s coal imports jumped by about a third to a record 138 million tonnes last fiscal. TSTPP is also hit by continuous strikes in mine area leading to disruption in coal supply.
The total coal requirement for the 3,000 MW TSTPP, which is the second largest power plant of NTPC, is about 19.0 MT assuming an average PlF of 90 per cent, he said.
“A solar power plant with capacity of 10 MW is under implementation at Kaniha. This will be the first step of NTPC, Kaniha towards venturing into environment friendly renewable source of energy,” told Fadnavis. Among others, senior officials of NTPC GM (Operation) C Chakrabarty, GM (Maintenance) VK Dasgupta, GM( O& M) CV Anand, AGM( FM) RC Pattanaik and AGM( HR) GC Surdeo were present.