The Hindu Business Line : Coal shortages plague NTPC stations

New Delhi, July 20 NTPC Ltd was forced to shut down its 1,000-MW Sipat thermal station briefly in May due to coal shortages and reported loss of generation at three other key stations — Kahalgaon, Talcher and Korba — during April-June.

The power major is currently operating several of its key stations, including Farakka in West Bengal, Kahalgaon in Bihar, Talcher in Orissa and Korba in Chhattisgarh, with limited coal stocks, the Minister of State for Power, Mr Bharatsinh Solanki, said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

While the coal shortages have hit NTPC’s stations in the eastern region the worst, “power generation has not stopped at these plants due to (the) coal shortage,” Mr Solanki stated.

The company’s plant at Sipat in Chhattisgarh was shut for five days in May due to low coal stocks, he added. The loss of generation at the 3,000 MW Talcher station was 199.6 million units, in Kahalgaon it was 126 million units and 142.5 million units at Sipat during the last three months.

Last week, the Central Electricity Authority said 13 of the country’s 78 coal-fired power plants had less than four days’ worth of stock and 30 had less than seven days of stock, compared with the normative stock requirement of between 15 and 20 days.

Asset search

About four-fifths of NTPC’s installed capacity of 30,600 MW is coal-based. The company has been looking for assets in countries such as South Africa, Indonesia and Australia to secure coal supply. NTPC will need 145-150 million tonnes of coal this financial year.

The country’s coal demand in the current financial year is expected to be 604.33 million tonnes, and domestic production is likely to be 534.33 million tonnes, leaving a gap of 70 million tonnes.