Coal news and updates

Higher grades to push up MPGENCO’s coal cost

Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company (MPGENCO), a state government power utility, would have to use substantial portions of higher grades of coal instead of the lower grades to generate electricity from the next financial year, a top official from MPGENCO revealed this to ICMW.

But the hike in the coal cost is a cause for concern for the power utility.

According to the official, MPGENCO would require 18.99 million tons per annum of coal for generating 4,320 MW. Till now, the lower grades of G11 or G12 have been procured from Western Coalfield Limited (WCL) and South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL)  for its 9 power plants.
 

The official said: “But now it has been decided that we would have to procure 20% of our coal from SECL in the form of higher grade coal of G4 or G5. The prices of G11 or G12 would be around Rs 500-1,000 per ton. But with this new decision, the cost of coal would go up substantially as these could cost around Rs 4,500 per ton.

“This hike in coal cost would be a matter of concern for us. We are trying to mitigate this cost factor,” the official said.