Coal news and updates

Even as the fate of the coal blocks allocated to power and metal industries in the State hangs in balance after the August 25 ruling of the Supreme Court, the State Government has urged the Centre to give top priority to its Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed projects during allocation of coal blocks.

 

The State Government has signed MoUs with 29 thermal power and 49 steel projects. Ensuring fuel security of these projects is the responsibility of the Government. The apex court ruling has created an atmosphere of uncertainty and the investors are in jittery over the fate of their projects, said a senior officer of the State Government.

 

The apex court cancelled 218 coal blocks allocated between 1993 and 2010 on the ground that the procedure adopted by the Centre was not fair and transparent.

 

Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had also objected to the manner in which coal blocks in the State were allocated to PSUs of other States and companies having no end-use-plants.

 

Patnaik had expressed displeasure over the allotment of coal blocks having a sizeable reserve of about 5,000 million tonnes of coal to 13 PSUs of other States.

 

“Out of these, allocation of 3,756.8 million tonnes of coal reserves to 11 PSUs have been made without any justification,” the Chief Minister had wrote to the Centre in 2012.

 

The allocation of Chendipada- II coal block to three outside PSUs - Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (UPRVUNL), Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC), Maharashtra Power Generation Corporation (Mahagenco) - defied logic, he said.

 

Since Chhattisgarh is the third largest coal bearing State in the country, there is no justification of allocation of coal blocks to CMDC in Odisha coalfields. Besides, there is no rationality in allocating coal block to the UP PSU in Odisha when Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh coal mines can feed coal to the thermal power plants in Uttar Pradesh.

 

Similarly, allocation of coal blocks to Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is without any logic as transportation of coal from Talcher will be cost-prohibitive, the Chief Minister had pointed.

 

When the power projects of the State are not able to meet their coal requirement, allocation of coal blocks to other States in Odisha is totally unjustified, sources in the Energy Department said. Last year, the State Government had registered its protest against cancellation of coal blocks allocated to the State-run Odisha Mining Corporation and the Odisha Hydro Power Corporation.

 

IB THERMAL POWER OUTPUT HIT BY TECHNICAL SNAG

 

Bhubaneswar: Power generation from Ib Thermal Power Station (ITPS) at Banharpali in Jharsuguda has come to a grinding halt due to a technical snag. While the fi rst unit of the 2X210 MW power plant went out of the grid from August 28 due to a problem in the boiler, the second unit was shut down on Saturday following leakage of hydrogen from generator, offi cial sources said. Sources in Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), of which ITPS is a unit, said it will take nearly a week to get the second unit repaired and resume power generation. The company has requested Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to send experts to get the repair work done. Since the fi rst unit will take more time, the company had taken it for annual maintenance with due approval from the State Government and Gridco, the bulk power purchaser. The fi rst unit was scheduled to go for annual maintenance in November. As water level in all the reservoirs is in a comfortable position, Gridco is managing the shortfall from the hydro power generating units. The average demand of the State is about 2700 MW while the peak demand is about 3500 MW.

 

 

Source: Express News Service