Fuel supply from captive mines: 2 NTPC plants get excess coal of Talabira II-III

The government had earlier this month notified rules permitting the sale of up to 50 per cent of the coal output from captive coal mines after they met the requirement of the end-use plant linked to the mine. Prior to the notification of amended rules, captive coal mines were only permitted to supply coal to the end-use plants linked to the mine.

“… both the companies worked together to commence the supply of coal from Talabira II&III OCP (Open Cast Project) to NTPC (Darlipali & Lara Power Plants), ,” the Coal Ministry said in a release, adding deliveries have started within 24 hours of the companies receiving directives from the Ministry .

The Ministry has sought to increase the output of coal shipped to thermal power plants across the country as a number of states including Rajasthan and Punjab have faced blackouts due to inadequate power supply from thermal plants.

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday cumulative coal supplies to thermal power plants hit 2 million tonnes on that day, compared to a target of 1.9 million tonnes set by the Power Ministry. The Power Ministry has set a supply target of 2 million tonnes of coal from October 20. The Coal Minister has said there is sufficient stock in the country to meet power requirements.

As many as 17 thermal power plants with a generation capacity of 17,050 MW (Megawatts) had zero days of coal stock on October 13, with another 47 plants with a capacity of 58,315 MW having only one or two days of coal inventory.

The shortage is more acute at non-pithead plants or plants, which are not located close to coal mines with such plants accounting for 105 of the 112 plants seen to have critical levels of stock i.e. under 8 days.

As much as 137.4 GW (Gigawatts) of the total 165 GW of capacity for which coal stocks are monitored daily is currently facing “critical” or “super critical” levels of coal inventory.

Non-pithead plants see more crunch

As many as 17 thermal power plants with a generation capacity of 17,050 MW (Megawatts) had zero days of coal stock on October 13, with another 47 plants with a capacity of 58,315 MW having only one or two days of coal inventory. The shortage is more acute at non-pithead plants or plants, which are not located close to coal mines with such plants accounting for 105 of the 112 plants seen to have critical levels of stock i.e. under 8 days.