Downplaying the critical coal supply situation to thermal plants, the nation's largest supplier of dry fuel Coal India ltd (CIl) has claimed that though the quota being supplied to these units during the monsoon months of July and August is more than last year, the shortage in several of these plants could be mainly due to erratic monsoon and logistical reasons like disruption in rail lines which carry these consignments to plants located in distant places.
Official sources claim that the situation is not alarming and out of around 100 thermal stations located in the country, it is normal for some to have critical supply of coal, owing to various reasons ranging from logistics, to law and order situation as well as climatic factors.
At the same time though, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal had a couple of days back, held a meeting via video-conferencing with CIl acting Chairman A K Dubey as well as heads of all its subsidiaries, to review the coal supply situation. If officials are to be believed, then this was a routine meeting, which is held on a weekly basis to keep a tab on supplies being made to power plants across the country.
According to CIl sources, the coal supply to state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation's (NTPC) stations has been more than adequate during August 2014, so much so that the company even refused supplies claiming more than sufficient quota with its thermal plants.
"The critical and super critical coal supply (which means plants reporting less than seven days and less than four days of coal stock respectively) does not apply to pit head plants. This mainly affects those plants which are located at distant locations. Moreover State-owned thermal plants (like those belonging to NTPC) have adequate supplies. The problem of critical supply therefore is more due to insufficient monsoon in various parts of the country and also could be due to disruptions in rail lines on which coal is carried to plants," a CIl official quoting anonymity said.
last week the situation at NTPC's three stations namely Badarpur in Delhi, Jhajjar in neighbouring Haryana and Sipat in Chhattisgarh was such that they had reported zero days of the essential fuel. Also several stations located in western parts of the country had also reported critical as well as super critical supply of coal. However when contacted, the company's Chairman Arup Roy Choudhury had told The Pioneer that there was nothing to worry about as no load shedding had occurred during last weekend.
Official sources, who are keeping a watch over the coal supply situation, said that it is mainly the private entity-owned power stations which face acute shortage of the dry fuel owing to the fact that their quota is linked to the power purchase agreements (PPAs), which makes it costly for them to purchase coal. While the official machinery may underplay the coal supply situation, the fact remains that last month NTPC had to shut down its four units of 890 mw capacity (on August 27) owing to coal shortage.
On the same day, the peak power shortfall - deficit in electricity supply when demand is at its maximum - was 5,572 mw at 2000 hours, according to a report by the Northern Region load Despatch Centre (NRlDC). It is the apex body to ensure integrated operation of the power system in the northern region. The total electricity requirement of the region during that time was 50,173 MW of which 4,4601 MW was met.