Chennai: Even as the state reels under power shortage, power generation has been suspended in one 500-megawatt unit of the Vallur thermal power plant due to coal shortage.
Unit-I had been shut down since December 15 due to inadequate supply of coal from the Talcher coal mines of Mahanadhi Coalfields Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, according to a a senior official of the Vallur project, a joint venture between the TN Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
Tamil Nadu gets nearly 350 MW as its share from each unit of its 2x500 MW Vallur thermal plant. “We have been receiving a short supply of coal from the Talcher mines due to the ongoing workers’ protest,” the official said, adding that the plant would resume operations only on January 5.
The official pointed out that not only their Vallur plant, but all other plants getting coal supply from Talcher were also affected. The Vallur thermal station requires 13,400 tonnes of coal per day. It meets 53 per cent of its coal needs from domestic coalfields and the remainder through coal imports.
On Friday, Tangedco met a morning peak demand of 11,724 MW while enforcing a load shedding of 511 MW. A senior Tangedco official said that the power supply from the central generating unit dropped by nearly 400 MW due to shutdown of one unit of Vallur plant and ongoing annual maintenance of two units of NLC station. On an average, the state receives nearly 300 MW from a unit of Vallur station and 100 MW from two units of NLC, the official said.
