Coal stock position at thermal power plants may be critical but not alarming, public sector coal producer Coal India Ltd (CIL) has said. It added that CIL is accelerating production and supplies to thermal power plants to avoid any possible electricity supply disruption.

According to a senior CIL official, amid the spiralling power generation, the company has raised its supplies to thermal power stations by over 14 per cent during the first half of April this year compared to the same period last year. CIL’s supplies have hit 1.64 million tonnes (mt) per day during this period against 1.43 mt during 2021.

The company had accelerated its production to 26.4 mt during the first half of April registering 27 per cent year-on-year growth. Output expansion in volume terms was 5.7 mt.

“We are hopeful of producing around 55 mt in April this year, almost 8-10 mt higher than the pre-pandemic period of April 2019 when we registered a production of around 45 mt,” the official told BusinessLine. This would be the company’s highest April production ever.

To tide over the intense demand, CIL has made available additional 8.75 mt of coal to State and Central Gencos for lifting through the rail-cum-road (RCR) mode till May 31. Of this, 3.25 mt is the unlifted quantity of the earlier round of RCR offer and 5.5 mt is the new offer. 

Meeting increasing demands

Despite the higher production, the escalating power demand, which is driven by the post-pandemic economic buoyancy and hotter-than-normal summer, seems to “dwarf the upsurge in supplies”. This apart, some of the imported-coal based power plants have curtailed imports due to soaring international prices, thereby exerting pressure on domestic power plants and leading to low coal stocks, sources said.

“The mercury levels soared above 41 degrees Celsius in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The Ministry of Earth Sciences has categorised heatwave status in these northern States. Maximum departure from normal temperature is ranging from 4.8 degrees to 6.2 degrees,” CIL said.

The country’s total power generation was 9.5 per cent higher, at an average of 4.53 billion units (BU) till April 15 this year over the same period last year. The increase was 400 million units per day against the average generation of 4.13 BU for the comparative period.

Coal-fired power generation climbed to an average of 3.5 BU per day in the first fortnight of April 2022, 9.4 per cent more over last April’s average of 3.2 BU for the same period. Though the uptick of 300 million units generation per day includes imported coal as well, the bulk of it was fuelled by CIL’s supplies.

Sequentially, the coal-based generation growth of this period is higher by over five per cent compared to the average of 3.32 BU for March 2022.

“The international coal prices are on the boil for the past many months showing no signs of cooling off. This turns the spotlight on domestic coal producers with CIL in the centre of it. CIL is coordinating with the ministries of coal, power and railways to build up stocks at power plants. The company’s supplies are on the up so far. The pressure would ease if the imported coal-based power plants meet their requisite imports set for the year,” CIL said.

Incidentally, the Union power ministry had recently issued a circular urging States to take action against imported coal-based power plants not maintaining coal stocks or not supplying power as per contract at the pretext of high imported coal prices. The ministry had also asked States and private companies to import around 36 mt of coal for blending purposes.

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