As the mercury continues to rise, the Delhi Government has expressed concern over the possible shortage of coal in power plants that supply electricity to the national Capital.
After reviewing the situation, Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday wrote to Central Government requesting it to provide enough coal for power plants supplying electricity to city. He also held a meeting to take stock of situation.
“The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)'s Dadri-II and Jhajjar (Aravalli), plants that were established primarily to meet power requirement of Delhi are left with very little stock of coal,” said Jain adding that if steps are not taken in time, there may be problems in round-the-clock power supply in Delhi Metro and hospitals. “The Dadri-II, Unchahar, Kahalgaon, Farakka and Jhajjar power plants in Delhi supply 1,751 MW of electricity per day. Delhi gets maximum supply of 728 MW from Dadri-II Power Station, while it gets 100 MW from Unchahar Power Station. Due to disruption of supply from these two power stations, there may be a problem in 24-hour power supply to many essential institutions including Delhi Metro and Hospitals,” said an official. “At Dadri-II power plant, a day’s worth of coal stock is left while in Unchahar, two days' worth of stock is left. The power plant at Kahalgaon has three to five days worth of coal stock left while Farakka power plant has five days coal stock left,” the official added. Jain said the city Government is monitoring situation and making every possible effort to ensure that people do not face power outages in some areas of Capital.
“At present, 25-30 per cent of electricity demand in Delhi is being met through these power stations, which are facing a coal shortage. They play an important role in preventing blackouts in some parts of Delhi and are also essential to ensure continuous supply of electricity to DMRC, hospitals, and to the people of Delhi in the summer season,” said Jain.