Imported coal-based power plants must run till October as govt extends emergency clause by a month

A coal-based power plant.

Imported coal-based power plants in the country will have to mandatorily operate and generate electricity at their full capacity till October 31 instead of September 30. This is because the central government on August 23 extended the emergency clause of the Electricity Act, 2003 by a month.

The month-long extension has been directed by the Ministry of Power in the wake of high power demand due to rising temperatures and high humidity levels. India's peak power demand breached all previous records on August 17 as the country clocked a demand of 234,058 megawatt (MW) or 234 gigawatt (GW).

But the demand that could not be met, also known as the peak demand deficit, stood at 7,255 MW on that day. In the past few weeks, the overall daily peak demand deficit has been unusually high, which reflects that several parts of the country are facing power cuts. Even as urban areas might not feel the pinch, the real impact of the deficit plays out in the form of power cuts in India's rural areas.

Due to the surge in power demand and subsequent load-shedding, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) last week also directed all power distribution companies to promptly requisition their power needs to the generating companies.

The latest order would mean at least 15 ICBs will have to operate at their full capacity until October. Some of these include Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd, Adani Power Mundra Ltd, Essar Power Gujarat Ltd, JSW Ratnagiri Ltd., Tata Trombay Ltd., GSECL Sikka Ltd., IL&FS Tamilnadu Power Company Ltd, Muthiara-Coastal Energen, Udupi Power and so on.

Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003, states that under extraordinary circumstances, the government can ask power-generating companies to operate and maintain output in accordance with the directions given.

The section states that an appropriate commission may consider offsetting the adverse financial impact of the directions on any generating company in such a manner as it considers appropriate.