The Power Ministry’s directive asking imported coal-based (ICB) power plants to run at full capacity is gradually taking shape as the country gears up for a hectic schedule in the upcoming festive season.
The ICB plants have not been able to play their part in catering to the elevated power demand primarily due to the operating hurdles arising from soaring fuel costs. Notably, several plants have been facing a lengthy absence from the grid.
However, with the government’s intervention, these plants are making a return to improve the power supply situation.
The latest addition to the list of operational ICB plants is Essar Power’s Salaya facility having total capacity of 1,200 megawatt (MW) consisting of two units of 600 MW each. The plant has been out of service from a period stretching back to March 2021 amid financial struggles.
As per Power Ministry data, Salaya’s second unit started operation last week and generated 89.98 million units (MU) of electricity till 25 September.
This came a few days after JSW Energy resumed operations from its 300 MW Ratnagiri power station in Maharashtra in end-August. The plant, similar to Salaya, has been facing outage since April.
At present, out of the fleet of 15 ICB plants, only three are completely shut as of September. The number of such plants increased to eight last November.
Power demand strong
Despite the arrival of September where a drop in temperature is recorded generally, power demand has not shown any signs of slowing down.
During 1-25 September, average power consumption was assessed at 4.26 BU/day (billion unit/day) against 4.16 BU/day in the corresponding period of August 2022. The consumption rate also increased by around 12% from year-ago levels.
In addition, in the upcoming festive season when demand is expected to remain strong, the ICB plants would help reduce, in part, the burden of the domestic coal-based plants and in turn avoid fresh setback to the coal supply chain.
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