Coal Ministry to ensure sufficient availability of dry fuel at thermal power plants

New Delhi: The Ministry of Coal on Monday said it has plans to produce additional quantity of the dry fuel to ensure sufficient availability for thermal power plants.

Production enhancement measures include opening of new blocks, expansion of mines capacity and production from captive, commercial mines.

"All these three operational components are contributing and have clear plans for further enhancement. The production plans for year 2027 and 2030 will far exceed the likely domestic requirement of thermal power plants in the country, including that for likely additional capacity," the coal ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry plans to produce 1,404 million tonnes (MT) of coal by 2027 and 1,577 MT by 2030 from the current level of production of about one billion tonnes per annum.

Coal supplied to domestic coal-based power plant is around 821 MT for the current year.

The Ministry said it has taken note of the additional coal requirement for the additional 80 GW of thermal capacity to be added by 2030.

"The coal requirement for additional thermal capacity would be around 400 MT at 85 percent PLF (plant load factor), and the actual requirement may be lower depending on the generation requirements in the coming times due to contributions from renewable sources," it said.

Coal stocks have started building up at thermal power plants and have reached around 20 MT. At various mines, the stock is at 41.59 MT.

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The total stock which includes those under transit and at captive mines is 73.56 MT as compared to 65.56 MT last year, showing year-on-year increase of 12 percent.

The growth in power generation for domestic coal-based plant was recorded at 8.99 percent, while the growth in coal production was at 13.02 percent year on year (till date). During last three months, demand for thermal power has grown by over 20 percent from last year.

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