Hyderabad: With increasing demand for electricity in the wake of rising temperatures from the domestoc sector, as well as from the agriculture sector with the Ysangi crop season reaching its peak, the thermal power stations owned by Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Limited are burning through some 45,000 tonnes to 50,000 tonnes of coal a day to keep its coal-fired electricity generating stations running and producing power.
“There is no issue with coal stocks or coal supply to our power plants,” Genco’s director, thermal, B. Laxmaiah said on Monday. He was responding to a question on last week’s directive from the Union Power Ministry asking all generation companies to stock up on coal in light of increasing demand for power and the requirement to generate more electricity this summer.
Genco’s thermal power stations, he said, currently have coal stocks to meet the needs for 10 to 15 days. Typically, the Union Power Ministry says every thermal power plant should have stocks for 26 days but in case of Telangana state, the lower stock position is of no concern as Genco gets its coal supplies from Singareni Collieries Company Limited which operates several coal mines in Telangana state.
An SCCL official said supplying coal to Genco’s or NTPC’s thermal plants in the state has never been an issue as the company can move coal stocks very quickly and add to the power plants’ buffer stocks within days. The 26-day coal stock mandate by the Union Power Ministry is based on 85 per cent plant load factor (a thermal power station’s average capacity utilization). Telangana’s thermal stations, including those run by the National Thermal Power Corporation, currently operate at a 78 per cent PLF.
Thermal power station – Capacity* - 26 days stock** – Current stock**
Bhadradri – 1080 - 343.7 – 144.1
Kakatiya – 1100 - 336.9 – 382.5
Kothagudem (New) – 1000 - 350.3 – 127.1
Kothagudem (Stage 7) – 800 – 210.4 – 79.5
Ramagundam B - 62.5 – 25.2 – 7.9
Singareni – 1200 - 368.2 – 127.2
*in MegaWatts **in thousand tonnes
