May 18:Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R. K. Singh has written to state that state Gencos may be asked to take immediate steps to import coal for blending in order to meet their requirement during the Monsoon season. The Minister, in separate letters to Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal, has expressed concern that the tender process for coal import has either not started or not been completed in these states.
Ministry of Power earlier advised State Gencos to import 10% of coal requirement for blending purposes. States were advised to place orders by 31.5.2022 such that delivery of 50% quantity is ensured by 30.6.2022, 40% by 31.8.2022, and the remaining 10% by 31.10.2022.
Shri Singh further asked that State Gencos may lift the entire quantity of coal offered under RCR mode expeditiously to build coal stock. He stressed that in case of failure on either account, it would not be possible to give additional domestic coal to make up the shortfall. He added that if RCR allocation is not lifted it will be allocated to other needy State Gencos and if the present state of affairs continues it may lead to a shortage of coal in states during monsoon adversely affecting the power supply situation in the States.
Shri Singh highlighted that due to the increase in demand and consumption of electricity, the share of coal-based generation has increased and the total coal consumption by power plants has also increased. He added that the materialization of domestic coal is only about 88% of total requirements. In order to ensure minimum required coal stocks in power plants before the onset of monsoon, Minister has directed that the thermal power plants owned by State Gencos and IPPs must use all the sources to maintain adequate coal stock.
***
Disclaimer: We donot claim that the images used as part of the news published are always owned by us. From time to time, we use images sourced as part of news or any related images or representations. Kindly take a look at our image usage policy on how we select the image that are used as part of the news.
