Coal news and updates

Nabha Power may place order for 0.35 mt imported coal in March

February 27:Nabha Power Ltd (NPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of L&T Power Development Ltd, is likely to place an order to procure 0.35 million tons (mt) of imported coal in March.

The company had floated an expression of interest (EoI) notice in June last year to procure 1.3 million tons of coal but had not placed the order as it did not receive clearance from the state regulator to increase the tariff that was likely to come because of usage of imported coal.

"The company had received an initial approval in August 2013 to raise the tariff, but the final approval from the state regulator came only on February 3, 2014. Now it can go ahead and import the material and will start with an purchase of around 0.35 mt," an industry source said.

"The order for 0.35 mt imported coal is likely to be placed in March," the source added.

The company had signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) based on the requirement of 6.5 million tons of coal to generate 1,400 MW electricity, but it finally signed a fuel supply agreement with South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) for 5.5 mt of coal and the actual coal receipt after washing is likely to be only to the tune of 5.0 mt and the balance 1.30 mt coal has to be imported once both units of the plant come into operation.

Meanwhile, commercial operation of the first 700 MW unit of the company's Rajpura thermal power plant commenced on January 31 and the plant was commissioned on February 1, 2014.

"The second 700-MW unit is scheduled to start commercial operation in May 2014," the source said.