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DNA EXCLUSIVE: Coal scarcity continues to hit power generation and supply

CARE estimates coal output to remain stagnant at 705-712 million ton (MT) in FY19

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Coal shortage is becoming severe as power plants with generation capacity of 16,000 MW are currently facing coal shortage while plants with the capacity of 30,000 MW are not being able to access coal as they do not have power purchase agreements. In addition, 10 plants are under scheduled annual shutdown. To add to this, the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) in its daily report has indicated that plants with generation capacity of 56,000 MW are at present non-operational which will result in power deficit across states.

According to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), number of plants with coal stock below four to seven days has risen to 30 and the number is expected to increase further in the wake of inadequate coal supply.

In case of Maharashtra which has a thermal capacity of 10170 MW, it is currently getting only 16 to 20 rakes of coal as opposed to the daily requirement of 32 rakes. The state-run Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company therefore has to carry out a load-shedding up to 2,500 MW.

Credit rating agency CARE in its report has estimated that India's total domestic coal production may remain stagnant with 2.5-3.5 per cent growth in FY19 at 705-712 million tonne.

"Domestic coal shortage has been widely reported, especially for thermal power plants. CIL on its part has been trying to address the issue of coal shortage at power plants. CIL and SCCL together reported 9 per cent growth in offtake and 10.6 per cent growth in production during April-August 2018. Supply chain issues due to inadequate rail-connectivity for coal evacuation and rake availability continue to be a major factor impacting availability of coal," CARE said. The shortage of coal has impacted spot market and merchant power tariffs, hitting Rs 18 per unit levels.

CIL officer told DNA that it supplied 5.3 million tonne more coal to power plants during the second quarter of FY19 than it did in the same quarter last year. Coal supplies to thermal power plants during Q2 of the current fiscal were 109.4 MT against 104.1 MT, for the comparable quarter last year, which is a 5.1 per cent increase. "The rise in coal production and supply was not matching the pace of increased power generation and demand in the country," the officer said.

Further, CARE has projected higher import of coal during the year in the range of 225-240 MT vs 208 MT in FY18. Improved capacity utilisation in power (captive and non-captive users), cement and steel would be major drivers of coal import.

DARK MATTER

  • According to CEA, the number of plants with coal stock below four to seven days has increased to 30. 
     
  • It is expected to increase further in the wake of inadequate coal supply. 
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