The Coal ministry’s standing linkage committee (SLC) on long-term coal linkages for power plants suggested transferring 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) earmarked for Dr NTTPS thermal power plant at Vijayawada from Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL) to Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL), which will help the plant save ₹180 crore annually. The SLC (long term) for power sector met last month to review a proposal by SCCL for transfer of a part of coal linkages of Dr NTTPS power plant under the Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) from Coal India (CIL) subsidiary, MCL to itself as it will help the thermal power plant (TPP) in reducing transport costs. The same was also recommended by the Power Ministry. SCCL said that the average coal off-take in the past several years by Dr NTTPS from SCCL is around 4-5 MTPA. The miner also indicated that there is availability of surplus coal to the tune of 8-9 million tonnes for supply to the Vijayawada plant under long-term linkage.

Easy transportation

The rationale behind swapping coal linkages is that the TPP at Vijayawada is about 170 kms from SCCL mines and the delivery of dry fuel takes only 2-3 hours. Thereby, the landed cost of coal from SCCL will be less by around ₹600 per tonne compared to coal from MCL. The rationalisation will help APGENCO save ₹180 crore per annum. Besides, the congestion in Railway traffic at Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada impacts the rake movement from MCL. APGENCO requested the Coal Ministry that out of the 6 MTPA coal linkage quantity of the TPP, swapping of 3 MTPA from MCL to SCCL. APGENCO emphasised that coal supplied by MCL is from Talcher area & Ib-valley (Jharsuguda), which are at around 930 km from the Vijayawada plant due to which it is incurring huge Railway freight charges for transportation of coal from both areas resulting in increased cost of power generation. This increases the problems of APGENCO as due to high cost of power generation the TPP is unable to fall in the Merit Order Dispatch of AP State Load Despatch Center (APSLDC). The variable cost of all the units of Dr NTTPS plant is in the range of ₹3.14-3.33 per unit, while the fixed costs are ₹0.79-1.31 per unit. The total cost of generating power is in the range of ₹4.12-4.45 per unit. Besides, the rake movement from MCL falls in multiple Railway Zones and it becomes difficult for movement of total Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) quantity by All Rail Route from MCL to Vijayawada. SCCL mines are around 150-225 km from Dr NTTPS and the rake movement also falls within the same Railway Zone. Dr NTTPS power plant has a total capacity of 1,760 megawatt (MW), while its declared capacity is 32,760 MWh (megawatt hour).

comment COMMENT NOW