Coal news and updates

The power ministry has urged equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) to modify its thermal power plants so that they can reduce their dependence on imported coal and use more of the domestic variety in the fuel mix.

 

"Earlier, there was always a perpetual shortage of coal. So, the country and the Planning Commission, instead of finding a solution and increasing its own production, designed plants based on imported coal so that for the next fifty years this gives business to foreign countries who can sell their coal to India," Union coal and power minister Piyush Goyal said at an event organised by the MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"What we have planned is to increase our own production and replace imported coal with the domestic fuel. I am now telling Bhel to find a design to modify these plants to run on domestic coal," he said.

 

According to the Central Electricity Authority, the country's aggregate coal-based power generation capacity on August 31, 2016, was 1,86,592.88 megawatt (MW). Power plants near the coastal region run primarily on imported coal.

 

While Coal India, the major producer and supplier of coal to power plants, has ramped up its production following the government's decision to reach a-billion-tonne mark by 2020, offtake from power plants has been constrained on a muted demand from distribution companies.

 

Coal India's provisional offtake during April-September has contracted 0.9 per cent year-on-year. While raising the offtake remains a challenge, the public sector miner has to manage production to avoid piling up of inventory.

 

During April-September, output grew 0.2 per cent to 230.06 million tonnes (mt) over the year-ago period but fell short of its target of 255.11mt.

 

CIL chairman Sutirtha Bhattacharya had said the miner had to aim for a double-digit growth rate (10 per cent and above) to be able to reach its target.

 

Renewable energy

 

The power minister is hopeful that state utilities will soon understand the long-term benefits of renewable resources.

 

Some states are considering purchasing cheap power from exchanges instead of sourcing it from renewable sources.

 

"In the long term, renewable energy will be the preferred source and also because there is no operating cost. Once you do the capex, you get a flat price for 25 years. Tariff in solar now is around Rs 4.5-5 (per unit). State utilities will take some time to understand that. I hope we will be able to get them on board. If they don't, they will have renewable power purchase obligations to fulfil and we will have to invoke stricter penalties," Goyal said.

SOurce: Telegraph India