The coal shortage faced by state-run NTPC is of its own making. The utility has come under attack for holding up Coal India Ltd’s efforts to import fuel by not specifying the required quantity, even as generation at its major plants has taken a knock over the last two months.
A draft coal ministry note for cabinet secretariat says CIL had informed Central Electricity Authority on October 26, 2009 that it was geared up for importing coal for NTPC. CIL had drawn up an ‘innovative’ process for procuring coal from abroad and had received CVC clearance for it. Till date, however, NTPC and other utilities are yet to spell out their firm requirement, preventing CIL from floating a tender.
Government sources said the NTPC brass was divided. One section did not want the import process to move immediately. Others are opposed to any delay as generation is suffering. The delay in spelling out the required quantity coincides with a substantial drop in generation from NTPC’s plants at Farakka, Kahalgaon and Durgapur in the last two months. NTPC chairman RS Sharma did not take calls when contacted by a leading newspaper.
CEA has blamed the decline on delayed coal imports by MMTC, a commerce ministry trading house engaged by NTPC. Coal imports have been a weak point for NTPC. In a recent letter, vetted by commerce secretary Rahul Khullar, the commerce ministry questioned NTPC’s logic of utilising MMTC for importing coal for a service fee. Even though MMTC is under commerce ministry, the letter said paying a service fee increases fuel costs and consequently results in costlier electricity for consumer.
The Plan panel has mandated CIL to import coal for the power sector. NTPC too has set up an internal group for importing coal. The imports are to bridge shortfall in domestic production or supply of lower grade coal due to heavy rains or constraints in rail transportation, respectively. The coal ministry note says CIL has notched up a growth of 7.6 per cent in the April-November and has been given a target of supplying 313 million tonnes of coal to the power sector.
According to a report by the Central Electricity Authority, the coal shortages curbed growth in India's overall power generation to an annual 5.45 percent in December.
Generation would have grown 6.5 percent had enough coal been available at plants of NTPC Ltd, the regulator said, adding India produced nearly 63.42 billion kilowatt hours last month, up from 60.14 billion kilowatt hours a year ago.
India has 10 percent of the world’s coal reserves, the biggest after the United States, Russia and China, but imports have grown rapidly from almost zero five years ago to an estimated 70 million tonnes in the current fiscal year. The share of coal-fired plants in India’s generation capacity will rise to 57 percent by March 2012 from the current 53.3 percent or 80,284 megawatts.
“Had the import of coal been realised as planned and generation achieved as planned at NTPC stations alone, the growth rate of coal-based generation would have been 3.9 percent against 2.53 percent,” the regulator said.
NTPC’s Kahalgaon power station in east India was the worst hit due to coal shortages, operating at 69.74 percent of its annual 2,340-megawatt capacity, it said, adding coal shortages led to a generation loss of 616 million kilowatt hours at the state-run utility’s plants.
"Out of 78 thermal stations, 18 power stations had critical stock, of which 12 stations had super critical stock position of less than 4 days stock as on December 31," it said.
Total coal stock at thermal power stations was 11.5 million tonnes, about half the desired stock of around 22 million tonnes. Thermal electricity, which accounts for about two-thirds of Indian power generation and includes using coal, gas and liquid fuel, grew about 6.11 percent annually in December.
A draft coal ministry note for cabinet secretariat says CIL had informed Central Electricity Authority on October 26, 2009 that it was geared up for importing coal for NTPC. CIL had drawn up an ‘innovative’ process for procuring coal from abroad and had received CVC clearance for it. Till date, however, NTPC and other utilities are yet to spell out their firm requirement, preventing CIL from floating a tender.
Government sources said the NTPC brass was divided. One section did not want the import process to move immediately. Others are opposed to any delay as generation is suffering. The delay in spelling out the required quantity coincides with a substantial drop in generation from NTPC’s plants at Farakka, Kahalgaon and Durgapur in the last two months. NTPC chairman RS Sharma did not take calls when contacted by a leading newspaper.
CEA has blamed the decline on delayed coal imports by MMTC, a commerce ministry trading house engaged by NTPC. Coal imports have been a weak point for NTPC. In a recent letter, vetted by commerce secretary Rahul Khullar, the commerce ministry questioned NTPC’s logic of utilising MMTC for importing coal for a service fee. Even though MMTC is under commerce ministry, the letter said paying a service fee increases fuel costs and consequently results in costlier electricity for consumer.
The Plan panel has mandated CIL to import coal for the power sector. NTPC too has set up an internal group for importing coal. The imports are to bridge shortfall in domestic production or supply of lower grade coal due to heavy rains or constraints in rail transportation, respectively. The coal ministry note says CIL has notched up a growth of 7.6 per cent in the April-November and has been given a target of supplying 313 million tonnes of coal to the power sector.
According to a report by the Central Electricity Authority, the coal shortages curbed growth in India's overall power generation to an annual 5.45 percent in December.
Generation would have grown 6.5 percent had enough coal been available at plants of NTPC Ltd, the regulator said, adding India produced nearly 63.42 billion kilowatt hours last month, up from 60.14 billion kilowatt hours a year ago.
India has 10 percent of the world’s coal reserves, the biggest after the United States, Russia and China, but imports have grown rapidly from almost zero five years ago to an estimated 70 million tonnes in the current fiscal year. The share of coal-fired plants in India’s generation capacity will rise to 57 percent by March 2012 from the current 53.3 percent or 80,284 megawatts.
“Had the import of coal been realised as planned and generation achieved as planned at NTPC stations alone, the growth rate of coal-based generation would have been 3.9 percent against 2.53 percent,” the regulator said.
NTPC’s Kahalgaon power station in east India was the worst hit due to coal shortages, operating at 69.74 percent of its annual 2,340-megawatt capacity, it said, adding coal shortages led to a generation loss of 616 million kilowatt hours at the state-run utility’s plants.
"Out of 78 thermal stations, 18 power stations had critical stock, of which 12 stations had super critical stock position of less than 4 days stock as on December 31," it said.
Total coal stock at thermal power stations was 11.5 million tonnes, about half the desired stock of around 22 million tonnes. Thermal electricity, which accounts for about two-thirds of Indian power generation and includes using coal, gas and liquid fuel, grew about 6.11 percent annually in December.
Next Story
