The Hindu Business Line : Karnataka drawing on thermal plants to meet power demand

Demand in the State is currently about 110 million units (mu) a day. But actual supplies were only about 75.94 mu a day. To sustain this demand, the State Government-owned power generator, Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL), deferred maintenance shutdowns of some thermal plants.

Karnataka’s thermal capacity is about 1,470 MW, comprising the seven units of the Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS). The 500-MW Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS) is yet to fully reach the commercial operations date. This is expected to happen during the month.

However, the State utility faced a fuel shortage for the thermal stations. The Managing Director of KPCL, Mr S.M. Jamdaar, said the company was pushed into looking for alternative coal sources.

The coal supply from the domestic supplier, Coal India, was disrupted in view of flooding in the Mahanadi Coalfields. Stock position is precarious with only about 4 days of supplies left. The Central Electricity Authority’s prescribed standard is 30 days of fuel supplies.

He said, “We need to ensure fuel supply security for our generating stations.”

KPCL’s daily coal linkage is about 28,300 tonnes with Coal India for RTPS. BTPS has begun generating power, feeding about 2.5 MUs. Once fully-commissioned, BTPS’ requirement is expected to be about 3 million tonnes.

With a shortfall in domestic supplies, KPCL was importing some of its coal requirements from Indonesia and other South East Asian sources. All the imports, however, were on the basis of spot market prices.

Currently, State-owned coal consumers seldom get into long-term supply contracts with foreign suppliers. Imported coal currently costs about $200 (Rs 8,700) for a tonne cost insurance and freight. Domestic coal costs only Rs 3,000 a tonne. Coal prices were treated as pass-through item for fixing power tariff. As a result, there was mounting tariff pressures.

Mr Jamdaar said the tariff impact was mitigated in view of the high efficiency of international steam coal. The heat rates on imported coal were in excess of about 6,000 kilocalories (kcals) for a kg. Domestic coal was about 3,000 kcals. Consequently, imported and domestic coals were blended for achieving the prescribed heat rate for domestic boilers of around 2,800 kcals for every kilowatt hour.

Heat rate is the measurement of thermal power plant efficiency. The blending of the coal brought down fuel consumption.

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