Coal stocks at thermal power plants would have been zero in Sept without the import mandate: RK Singh

Coal

Despite the country reeling under a shortage of domestic coal, widespread power cuts and blackouts were averted in September 2022 with the government's mandate of using imported coal for blending at thermal power plants, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh, told the Rajya Sabha on December 6.

"The gap between daily coal consumption and daily arrival of domestic coal ranged between 2.65 lakh tonnes to 0.5 lakh tonnes between September 2022 and January 2023. If the imports for blending had not been made, coal stocks in thermal power plants would have reduced to zero in September 2022 and would have continued so, leading to widespread power cuts and blackouts," Singh said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Also read: Coal stocks at domestic coal-based plants hit year’s low on robust power demand, transportation woes

To further ensure power generation amid rapidly growing demand, the Ministry of Power on January 9 this year directed all Central and state generating companies and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to import coal at 6 percent by weight through a transparent competitive procurement for blending. This mandate has now been extended till March 2024.

"In the current financial year (FY24), it has been observed that there is a consistent rising trend in the power demand in the country coupled with inadequate supply of domestic coal, which has resulted in rapid depletion of coal stocks at Domestic Coal Based (DCB) plants across the country," Singh said.

During April-October 2023, the average growth in the coal-based generation, concerning the corresponding period of FY 23, was 8.6 percent and the depletion in DCB plant stocks was 15.3 MT.

Explaining the reasons for the coal shortage at thermal power plants, apart from increased power demand, the Union minister said that about a 14 percent fall in hydro-power generation has been recorded in H1 of FY24 compared to the corresponding period of FY 23 due to variable monsoon rainfall. Besides, approximately 2 GW of hydro capacity is out because of recent floods in Sikkim.

Also read: Exclusive: At least three hydropower projects of 2,210 MW affected in Sikkim flash floods.

The reservoir levels in Northern, Eastern and Southern regions are also less compared to the previous year as of October 9, 2023, which has resulted in lower reservoir energy content at the pan-India level. "This has put an additional burden on coal-based thermal generation," he said.

Also read: Moody Monsoons: Erratic rains pulled down hydropower generation by 8% in H1FY24 — NHPC.