The Hindu Business Line : NTPC to go ahead with coking coal import next fiscal

NATIONAL Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has decided to go ahead with its plan to import a minimum of about four million tonnes (mt) of non-coking coal in 2006-07, even as the overall availability position of power grade coal from domestic coal companies has improved in recent weeks.

A senior NTPC executive said the stock has increased in each of the company's power stations in recent weeks, particularly in the eastern region with the subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd (CIL) agreeing to supply an additional quantity, over what has been earmarked by the coal linkage committee at prices agreed to between both parties in the Coal Supply Agreement (CSA).

The higher placement of wagons has also helped the coal companies to despatch additional quantity to power plants. The executive said that the corporation's 1,600-MW capacity Farakka super thermal power plant (STPP) in West Bengal and the 840-MW Kahalgaon STPP in Bihar were running with a comfortable 15 days' stock, while the 3,000-MW capacity Talcher STPP has 10 days' stock.

Supported by easy availability of coal, these three STPPs have been able to raise the plant load factor (PLF) to a considerable extent, thereby enabling them to sell more power to the national grid. The PLF at these plants ranges from 96 per cent to 100 per cent.

The executive said that the requirement of power grade coal would increase considerably once the capacity expansion at Kahalgaon and Farakka is completed.

Three 500-MW units are being added at Kahalgaon and one 500-MW unit at Farakka are likely to be commissioned.

The first 500-MW units at Kahalgaon will be commissioned in mid-2007, leaving the remaining two units to be ready by 2007-08.