The Hindu Business Line : Thermal stations face shortage of coal stocks

Heart of darkness
Several stations facing “super-critical” coal stock situation form the backbone of the Central and Eastern Grids.
Shortages due to lower production by CIL between April and September.

Anil Sasi

New Delhi, Oct. 13 A serious coal shortage situation is brewing at a number of major thermal power stations across the country, with the coal stock position in 20 stations — total installed capacity of 24,420 MW — now being termed as “critical” since coal stocks in these plants are expected to last less than seven days.

Of these, the coal stock position in six large stations, totalling 8,330 MW, has been declared as “super-critical,” where stocks are expected to last less than four days, according to latest data of coal stock position (till October 10) compiled by the Central Electricity Authority.

Even more worrying could be the fact that stations facing “super-critical” coal stock situation include a number of super-thermal stations, several of which form the backbone of the Central and Eastern Grids, including NTPC’s 3,260-MW Vindhyachal station in Madhya Pradesh, the 1,340-MW Kahalgaon station in Bihar and the 1,600-MW Farakka station in West Bengal.

The stations facing “critical” coal stocks include NTPC’s 3,000-MW Talcher Super Thermal Power Station in Orissa, the 2,600-MW Ramagundam station in Andhra Pradesh, the 2,000-MW Singrauli station in Uttar Pradesh, besides Maharashtra’s 2,340-MW Chandrapur project and Uttar Pradesh’s 1,550-MW Obra station.

According to Power Ministry officials, the shortages are on account of a lower coal production by Coal India Ltd between April and September this year, mainly with excessive monsoon rains throwing production schedule out of gear at several coal fields. Higher than anticipated power generation at some stations and unloading constraints at others, combined with low levels of coal imports, have compounded the problem further, they said.

The impact is most pronounced in the Eastern region, which ironically has the most abundant coal reserves and where projects are either pit-head or close to the coal mine in most cases. Here, the maximum number of stations is facing coal shortages (seven of the 20, of which four face “super critical” stocks), mainly as coal production has been disrupted due to the heavy rain. Besides, several pithead-based stations, which are generally considered to be insulated from the vagaries of supply problems since the mine adjoins the station, are also facing shortages. These include NTPC’s Singrauli, Vindhyachal, Ramagundam, Kahalgaon and Farakka stations.

Thermal stations are normally expected to hold coal stocks of between 15 and 30 days, depending on the location of the project. While pithead stations should hold stocks of 15 days or more, stations located away from the mine are expected to hold coal stocks for 21 to 30 days, according to Government officials.

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