New Delhi: Coal loading to the power sector rose by 74 rakes a day over four days to reach 444 rakes on September 6, the Ministry of Coal said on Monday. Loading had stood at 370 rakes a day on September 3, and the ministry put the cumulative improvement across the period at about 20 percent. The largest single-day gain came at the end of that run, when loading rose by 31 rakes.
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The day-wise figures in the statement show the increase building through the four days. Loading moved from 370 rakes on September 3 to 387 on September 4, a gain of 17 rakes. It rose again to 413 on September 5, adding 26 rakes, before reaching 444 on September 6.
Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) recorded the sharpest single-day improvement on September 6, adding 12 rakes to take its loading to 111 rakes a day. Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) added eight rakes to reach 25, and captive blocks six to reach 72. Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) and private washeries and goodsheds each added three, taking them to 35 and 42 rakes, respectively. Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) and South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) gained two rakes and one rake to reach 36 and 46. Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) and Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) held at their previous day's levels of 23 and 29 rakes.
Together those movements took loading from Coal India Limited (CIL) sidings to 305 rakes a day, an improvement of 26 rakes over the previous day. The ministry attributed the four-day trend to sustained efforts by CIL, its subsidiaries, Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and captive mine operators to ramp up supply to the power sector, and said it remained committed to sustaining it.
The ministry said thermal plants holding stock below 25 percent of their normative requirement are being closely monitored, with corrective coal supply measures already in place. The Central Electricity Authority's (CEA) daily coal stock report for September 5 lists 58 thermal plants with critical coal stocks. Fifty-three of them run on domestic coal, four are designed on imported coal and one is based on washery rejects.
Across the 190 plants the report covers, together carrying 223,868 MW of capacity, coal stock stood at 26,908.8 thousand tonnes against a normative requirement of 57,677.1 thousand tonnes. That works out to 46 percent of normative, on a tentative plant load factor (PLF) of 49 percent for the month so far.
State generating companies account for the largest share of the critical list. Twenty-four of their plants were critical on September 5, against nine in the Central sector and 20 among Independent Power Producers (IPP) running on domestic coal. Their combined stock stood at 39 percent of normative, compared with 49 percent for Central sector plants and 47 percent for IPPs.
Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL) was the most stretched of the state utilities, with all seven of its plants critical and combined stock at 17 percent of normative. Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (UPRVUNL) had three plants critical at 31 percent, and Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) had two at 16 percent. NTPC's own stations held 52 percent of the normative coal stock with three in the critical category, while Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) reported coal stock at 71 percent with none in the critical category.
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The thinnest individual stocks sat with IPPs. Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project held 5 percent of its normative stock, Butibori 6 percent and Anpara at 8 percent. Among plants designed on imported coal, Torangallu SBU-I reported no stock at all, while Adani Power's Mundra unit III held 10 percent.
Stock levels also separated pithead plants from the rest. The 18 domestic-coal plants located at pithead held 61 percent of the normative stock, against 41 percent at the 157 non-pithead plants.
According to official figures, the highest maximum demand met in August was at 258.27 GW, recorded on August 21. September's highest so far came on the first day of the month, at 256.06 GW. On September 5, maximum demand met peaked at 249.03 GW. The all-time high peak power demand this year was 270.82 GW, which was recorded on May 21.
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