Coal news and updates

CEA confident 3-day CIL stir not hit power generation

September 18: The Central Electricity Authority has made all efforts to ensure that none of the power plants, especially those having super-critical coal stocks of less than four days, suffer due to coal shortages in the wake of the proposed three-day strike at Coal India Ltd (CIL), a senior official told ICMW from Delhi.

"It is our attempt to ensure that there is no possibility or limited possibility of disturbances in generation of power due to shortage of coal in any of the power plants in the wake of the proposed three-day strike called by the trade unions of CIL," an official from the operation and monitoring department of CEA said.

The official said the initiative has been taken especially to ensure that plants with coal stocks of less than four days (super critical coal stocks) do not suffer. "The plants with higher coal stocks, in any case, will not suffer," he added.

"Instructions have already been passed earlier today (September 18) to the Railways, coal companies to arrange for higher supplies of coal and to power utilities to arrange for unloading to ensure enough stocks of coal for three days so that there is no generation loss in view of the proposed disturbance in supplies for four days, starting September 23. Though the strike has been called for three-days, it will take another one day to streamline things," the official said.

"We have specially instructed 12 power plants, including NTPC's Vindhyachal, Ramagundam, Talcher, Singrauli, Ramagundam, Simhadri and Vijaywada, as it is the power plants which have to make arrangements for unloading of coal," the official added.

"We expect to ensure higher supplies to Ramagundam and Vijayawada by supplying slightly higher coal from both SCCL and CIL," the official added.

The official further said that letters were issued to the Railways, coal companies as well as power plants as a matter of extreme caution though a large number of the super critical coal stock plants can continue generation for three days without even having stocks, by using carpeting coal or leftover coal stocks.