Rise in power demand has put the pressure back on the coal-fired plants as they raise their generation schedule during June, 2022. Resultantly, state-run miner Coal India Ltd (CIL) will need to scale up its coal supplies.
Data provided by the Ministry of Power (MoP) indicates that coal-based plants have generated 64,533 million units (MU) of power during 1-19 June, 2022 at a healthy rate of 3.4 billion units/day (BU/day), which accounts nearly 81% of the total conventional power generation. The average generation by these plants was recorded at 3.3 BU/day in May 2022.
The coal-based power plants took a breather in May as part of their burden was reduced due to higher output from renewables. However, these plants have again been called to action, in June, at a time scorching temperatures have raised power demand.
Notably, the all-India power demand rose to a new high of 211.856 gigawatts (GW) as on 10 June after it had peaked to 210.793 GW the day before.
CIL dispatches up 13%
CIL’s coal dispatches at 39.2 million tonnes (mnt) during the 20-day period of June, 2022 were 13% higher than in the corresponding period of last year.
The miner has supplied coal at an average of 1.96 mnt/day in Jun, 2022 which has inched down marginally from 1.98 mnt/day in May, 2022. However, the dispatches were still higher than the levels seen in April, 2022.
Source: CIL | Quantity in mnt | * Data compiled till 20 June
In order to augment coal supplies to the power plants, the company has extended supply curtailment to the non-power sector via both modes of sales — fuel supply agreements (FSAs) and e-auctions.
In fact, three of its largest coal producing subsidiaries — namely-Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL), South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) and Northern Coalfields (NCL) — are yet to announce auctions for June.
Power plant coal inventory rising
Coal stocks at the power plants have increased to 25.09 mnt as on 19 June, 2022 recovering from the lows seen in April.
Apart from domestic supplies, the restocking was supported by increased supplies via imports. Notably, the inventory of imported coal rose from 3.17 mnt as on 1 June to 3.65 mnt as on 19 June.
The government is keeping a close watch on the inventory levels to avoid a repeat of the coal crisis seen last year. Recently, the power ministry has laid down a plan to increase stockpiles to 40 mnt during monsoon.
In order to compensate for the expected shortfall in domestic supplies in the rainy season, it has already acquired services of CIL to raise supplies via import tenders on behalf of the power plants.
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