Save coal for peak days, Centre advises state

The Centre said on Friday that there was no shortage of coal in thermal power plants of Karnataka and that all the plants have, on an average, stocks for five days of power generation (2.24 lakh tonnes).

A delegation, comprising former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and Chief Minister of Karnataka H D Kumaraswamy, met Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal here on Thursday and raised the issue of coal stock.

The minister explained to the delegation that Karnataka Power Corporation Limited sold 584.91 MU of power at the power energy exchange this year, till October 2018.

“This selling amounts to consuming 3.8 lakh tonnes of coal, which otherwise could have been used to boost coal stocks in power plants,” a statement from the minister’s office said.

Cheaper rate

The minister advised the delegation that the state should purchase the power from the exchange, which is now available at a cheaper rate, instead of utilising stocked coal for generating power. The thermal plants should stock the coal to generate electricity during the peak demand season, mostly February/March. This will also help the state avoid purchasing the power from the exchange during peak season at a higher price, the minister said.

No coal shortage

“As per data of the Central Electricity Authority for April to November 2018, peak power demand of Karnataka, amounting to 11,185 MW, was fully met and total energy demand of the state, amounting to 45,277 MW, was met with 99.9% fulfilment and there were no notified power cuts.

This became possible due to continued and timely supply of coal by Coal India Limited and South Eastern Coalfields Limited,” the statement said.