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In the anticipation of rising power demand Power Minister RK Singh on Saturday asked the Power Secretary Alok Kumar to explore the possibility of reducing the benchmark of 14 days of coal stocks to a benchmark of ten days of coal stocks for identification of plants with extremely depleted stocks to divert coal, the Power Ministry said Saturday in a release.
The minister took an extensive review meeting with the representatives from the Ministry of Power (MOP), Ministry of Coal, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Railways, and the power PSUs in the previous day. According to the release, he directed the officials to work in a coordinated manner to streamline the stock and supply of coal, in anticipation of rising energy demand.
Review meeting discussion
Singh also examined the day-wise status of power requirement and withdrawal from the grid according to State. He suggested the power ministry hold a separate review meeting for power plants with captive mines, to ensure maximum use of these mines by their power plants. In addition, he also asked the officials to look more into blending imported and indigenous coal, for better economics for the plants, in case importing was the requirement for such plants.
Singh highlighted that the rising demand for energy augurs well for the economy. “He impressed upon the officers that energy demand is likely to rise and that will need to be factored in as they address the current constraints,” the release added.
A few days ago, the Coal Ministry had informed that Coal India Limited (CIL) had ramped up its coal supplies during the last five days of August, clocking 1.7 million tonnes (MTs) per day to meet the upsurge in power demand.
“Augmenting supplies to coal fired power plants, CIL is pumping 1.36 MTs of coal per day. The last three-day average loading to the power sector has touched 1.4 MTs. The coal supply to TPPs has picked up only in July and has been at a historic high since then,” the release said.
Spectral enhancement software
Meanwhile, CIL on Saturday launched a new software named “Spectral Enhancement” (SPE), which will help in identifying thin coal seams under the earth crust and improve assessment of coal resources using seismic surveys during the coal exploration process.
“The launch of SPE software assumes significance as the present seismic survey techniques for coal resource exploration have limitations in identifying the thin coal seams under the earth, which will now be possible as this new software helps in enhancing resolution of seismic signals leading to delineation of thinnest coal seams,” the Coal Ministry said in a release.
It is to be noted that the CIL’s research and development arm Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) has developed this software in association with Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) and the company will also file for its copyright protection, the release added.
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