Shortage of coal may fuel power crisis

Mahagenco says that it barely has stocks and is in a critical condition.

Depleting stocks of coal has set the alarm bell ringing for the Maharashtra State Electricity Generation Company Limited (MSEGCL), the generation arm of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company. Currently, MSEGCL, also known as Mahagenco, produces less than 4,000mw of thermal power whereas its generation capacity is around 5,000mw.

“If the coal ministry does not provide us with immediate linkage from Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), the state will be in a dire situation,” said Ajoy Mehta, managing director of Mahagenco who was present at a meeting with NCP leader Sharad Pawar and the power ministers of both centre and the state at New Delhi on Monday. The meeting discussed the situation arising out of the shortage of coal in Maharashtra.

Mehta told DNA that Mahagenco requires 34 million tonne of coal every year and only one million tonne is imported. “However, this year we have been asked to increase our imports to more than 1.5 million tonne due to shortage of indigenous coal,” he said.

Mahagenco officials say that the quality of coal has gone down. Most of the coal received from the mines has over 45% ash which compels the generation company to burn more fuel for power generation than usually required.

“With this quality, 2% extra coal has to be burnt to generate the required quantity of electricity,” an official said.

With the central electricity authority’s regulation imposing a condition of maintaining at least a 14-day coal stock at any power generating station, the situation has become very critical.

“We cannot abide by the regulation as we barely have stocks for 0.5 to 1.5 days which is termed as ‘critical’ condition. We have urged the coal ministry to improve the logistics and allow us to buy coal from WCL, and thereby ensure that our stocks are
available for at least 8 days,” Mehta said.