Several power plants designed to run on imported coal, after having resumed operations, are gradually increasing their generation schedule to help ease the country’s power supply situation.
As per data provided by the power ministry, generation from the imported-coal-based (ICB) plants jumped 86% y-o-y to 3,807 million units (MU) in September, 2022 against 2,044 MU in September, 2021. The volume was also 29% higher on the month compared to 2,943 MU in August, 2022.
The latest addition to the list of operational ICB plants was Essar Power’s Salaya facility, its second unit having a capacity of 600 megawatt (MW). It resumed operation last month. Earlier, JSW Energy had started operations at its 300-MW Ratnagiri power station in Maharashtra in August.
These plants had been facing prolonged outages amid coal shortages resulting from soaring global prices. Nevertheless, 3 out of 15 ICB plants were still out of service in September.
In fact, the operational constraints have adversely impacted the performance of ICB plants this fiscal. During April-September 2022, total power generation from these plants fell 10% y-o-y to 23,023 MU against 25,678 MU in April-September, 2021.
Higher coal sourcing needed
The ICB plants have resorted to hand-to-mouth coal procurement to run their operations amid elevated prices. Notably, coal imports by these plants have dropped 10% y-o-y to 10.07 million tonnes (mnt) in April-August, 2022.
However, it is expected that the plants would increase their sourcing to maintain adequate inventories going ahead where power demand is likely to remain strong supported by both industrial activities and upcoming festivities.
This is particularly important at a time when the stock levels are steadily decreasing. As on 11 October, 2022 coal inventory at ICB plants was assessed at 1.94 mnt, sliding down from the highs of 2.5 mnt seen in July-end.
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