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New Delhi: With mercury soaring and demand for electricity increasing every day, some of the major thermal plants in Punjab and Haryana are struggling with coal shortages, indicating a looming power crisis across the states. In Punjab, the coal stock at Rajpura thermal is for 17 days, 4 days for Talwandi Sabo thermal, and nil stock at GVK thermal. At Ropar thermal and Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant, the stocks are sufficient for 9 and 6 days only, Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) latest daily coal report showed. Meanwhile, in Haryana, Yamuna Nagar thermal has a stock of 8 days, and Panipat thermal of 7 days. At Khedar thermal, where the only unit is available for generation, the coal stock is for 22 days.
Central Electricity Authority’s report said that the coal stock at 81 out of a total of 150 thermal power stations using domestic coal is critical as per guidelines. It pointed out that the condition of the private sector thermal plants is equally bad as the coal stock of 28 out of 54 plants is in a critical stage. “Thermal plants across the country are grappling with a coal shortage as the power demand in the states has increased, and a number of states are not able to bridge the gap between demand and supply because of insufficient coal stocks at thermal plants,” All India Power Engineers’ Federation (AIPEF) spokesperson VK Gupta said in a statement.
According to the statement, in the northern region, the worst suffering states are Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. All the seven thermal plants with a capacity of 7,580 MW in the Rajasthan state sector have critical coal stock. In Uttar Pradesh, 3 out of 4 state sector thermal plants with a capacity of 6,129 MW with exception of Anapara thermal are having critical coal stock.
In the northern region, there is an evening peak shortage of 2,400 MW, comprising 1,200 MW from Uttar Pradesh, and 600 MW from Haryana. Maharashtra has six out of seven thermal plants with critical coal stock and Andhra Pradesh has all three thermal plants having critical coal stock. The Union Power Ministry has recommended the import of coal for blending up to 10 per cent to ensure adequate stock when the power demand is at its peak in the next few months.
The country’s largest coal producer and supplier Coal India Limited (CIL) on Tuesday said it has upped its supplies by 14.2 per cent to coal-based electricity generating plants. “Amid the spiraling power generation, CIL raised its supplies to thermal power stations by 14.2 per cent during the first half of April’22 compared to the same period last April,” the Indian Express quoted the company as saying.
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