Only one day stock of coal left in power station; Delhi might face blackout, says minister Satyendra Jain

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Coal shortage crisis seems to be deepening in Delhi, as the national capital's Power Minister, Satyendra Jain has warned that there is only one day stock of coal left in the thermal power station from where Delhi gets electricity.

His statement comes in a few hours after Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd sent phone messages to its customers to use electricity judiciously, on October 9.

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) CEO Ganesh Srinivasan said that Coal-based power stations supplying electricity to Delhi have limited coal stocks to meet generation requirements for one-two days against 20 days as per applicable regulations.

"As a result, Delhi might go through intermittent rotational load shedding. However, proactive steps by both Delhi as well as the central government for handling the grim situation are under consideration to arrange or divert coal for power generation," he added, as quoted by news agency PTI.

Also Read: Odisha industries facing coal crisis, seek CM Naveen Patnaik's intervention

Taking cognizance of the looming crisis, Delhi's Power Minister held a high-level meeting on October 9 with representatives of power distribution companies (discoms) in Delhi to discuss the 'power crisis'.

He acknowledged the acute shortage of coal in coal-fired power plants across the country and appealed to the Centre to transport coal to the national capital.

He further informed that all the plants are already running on only 55 per cent capacity, instead of the full 3.4 lakh megawatt (MW) capacity. "Today, only 1 lakh MW demand is left instead of 3.4 MW demand, but still, the power plants are not able to meet this demand," he said.

The Minister also apprised that Delhi does not have any coal plant of its own but only three small plants which produce gas.  Most of the power is procured from the central government's NTPC, where coal reserves have to be kept for at least one month, which has come down to only one day, stated the minister.

In order to resolve the power crisis in Delhi, Jain said that the government is ready to buy expensive electricity at present.

Also Read: Explained | Why is India facing a coal shortage?

"The capacity of our hydroelectric plants has also reduced from 45,000 MW to 30,000 MW. But, we want the plants to generate 45,000 MW of electricity during this peak hour. We have also made power purchase agreements with NTPC of 35,000 MW-45,000 MW. Still, we are ready to buy the expensive electricity today at the cost of Rs 20 per unit, Jain added.

Along with this, he also requested the power plants of the country be run at their 100 per cent capacity, otherwise 'Delhi may face a blackout if the supplies are not resumed at the earliest'.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as well has sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to avoid any crisis.

He has sought the Prime Minister's intervention in making adequate arrangements of coal and gas to generation plants supplying electricity to the city.

Delhi could face a power crisis. I am personally keeping a close watch over the situation. We are trying our best to avoid it. In the meanwhile, I wrote a letter to Hon’ble PM seeking his personal intervention. pic.twitter.com/v6Xm5aCUbm

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 9, 2021

In his letter to Modi, Kejriwal suggested "adequate coal may be diverted from other plants to plants like Dadri-II and Jhajjar TPS, which are supplying to Delhi”.

"APM gas may be allocated to plants like Bawana, Pragati-I and GTPS supplying power to Delhi. Adequate quantity of NAPM gas be supplied to power stations in Delhi,” it added.

Also Read: Energy crisis in India| More than half of coal plants on alert for outages, says report

"Maximum rate of power sold in any slot through the Exchange, currently at Rs 20 per unit, may be suitably capped to discourage profiteering by traders and generators from the current crisis," he said.

"These measures are essential to maintain uninterrupted power in Delhi which is catering to strategic and important installations of national importance apart from supplying power to essential services like the cold chains for the vaccination drives, hospitals, health care centres, Covid care centres etc," Kejriwal concluded.

(With inputs from ANI, PTI)