Coal Shortage

By March-end, coal stocks solely at thermal power plants will be increased to 45 MT from the current 43 MT, the Union minister for coal said.

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

During April-October 2023, the average growth in coal-based generation, with respect to corresponding period of FY 23, was 8.6 percent and the depletion in DCB plants stocks was 15.3 million tons (MT), Singh said

Coal ministry to develop pumped storage projects in de-coaled mines

Coal India Limited (CIL) informed that more than 20 abandoned mines have been identified for evaluation and feasibility study for pumped storage projects.

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

Acting on the shortage, the Ministry of Power on October 25 directed all thermal generating stations, including Independent Power Producers, to mandatorily blend imported coal at 6 percent of their total capacity till March 2024. Until now, the mandate was limited to 4 percent.

Exclusive: Imported coal-based power plants have to run on 100% capacity till June

The eight-month long extension has been directed by the Ministry of Power owing to a surge in electricity demand, inadequate supply of domestic coal and reduced hydropower generation.

India unlikely to touch 240 GW power demand again in 2023

Unusual weather conditions have extended the hot months into August-September, causing a strain on the power generating resources of the country. The government has made policy adjustments to meet the shortfall in supply.

Thermal power plants have adequate availability of coal: Ministry of Coal

Coal ministry data showed that there has been a significant 53.13 percent decline in the import of thermal coal for domestic coal-based power plants for blending from 19.2 million tons (MT) in April-August, 2022 to 9 MT in April-August, 2023.

Diversification: CIL and its subsidiaries to use de-coaled land to build new thermal power plants

Given the country’s growing shift to renewable energy, the coal ministry has decided to foray into thermal power plants, and not just mine coal.

PowerWatch |India's peak power demand reaches 201.7 GW, coal stocks manageable

About 35 million tonnes (MT) of coal are stocked at thermal power plants.

PowerWatch | India’s power demand may crawl back to 200+ GW in coming week

The coal stock situation is “manageable”, as of now, data accessed by Moneycontrol shows. Of the 165 domestic coal-based thermal power plants in the country, 32 had critical stocks. Last year at this time, the number of such plants was around 96.

Anticipating another coal crisis, power ministry asks all gencos to import 6% of their coal requirement

It is noted that the shortfall between the daily coal consumption and the daily arrival of domestic coal is ranging from 3 Lakh Tones per day to 1 Lakh Tonnes per day, the ministry said.

Six years later, DVC to start coal production from this month

DVC, which has mostly been an electricity generator, now getting back into coal production signifies India’s renewed thrust on expanding its thermal power generation capacity to meet its growing demand.

Coal shortages pose downside risk to growth, says Capital Economics

Energy supply concerns in India have heightened amid low inventories of coal. Coal-fired power plants only have on average enough stocks to last 10 days, Capital Economics said.

Power demand growth rate seen nearly doubling in next five years: Govt

India would add power generation capacity of 165.3 gigawatts (GW) over five years ending March 2027, most of which would be renewable energy, according to the plan

South Africans struggle in the dark to cope with power cuts

The power cuts are costing South Africa well over $40 million per day and deterring investment, say economists. South Africa's economy, Africa's most developed, is already in recession and is suffering a 35% unemployment rate.

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India faces wider coal shortages, worsening power-outage risks

According to an internal power ministry presentation , India is anticipated to confront a bigger coal shortfall in the quarter ending September as a result of higher power demand, increasing the likelihood of widespread power disruptions, according to a Reuters report.

Drill deep to fix the coal conundrum

Move to auction shut mines is at best a stop-gap solution when long-term finance is a problem for coal projects

Government orders all imported-coal plants to operate at full capacity as power demand surges

Section 11 of the Electricity Act gives the government the authority, in extraordinary circumstances, to order any generating company to operate and maintain its stations.

India’s power crisis is an opportunity to spur clean energy transition

Investing in thermal energy to help India through the power crisis risks diverting limited financial resources away from cheaper clean energy resources 

Explained | Why is Indian Railways cancelling mail, passenger trains?

On May 1, around 42 passenger trains were canceled to allow faster movement of coal carriages to restock power plants across India running low on the fuel amid blackouts and outages in many states

Coal Crisis | Indian Railways cancels 657 mail, passenger trains to prioritise movement of coal rakes

The South East Central Railways has cancelled 296 passenger trains, added the railways.

Power supply to Delhi Metro trains, hospitals could be interrupted due to coal shortage

Power Minister Satyendar Jain held an emergency meeting to assess the situation and wrote to the Centre requesting it to ensure adequate coal availability to power plants that supply electricity to the national capital.