Punjab state economy may take hit as coal stock dwindles

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 5

Worsening arrival of coal and dwindling supply is triggering a power crisis in Punjab that can hit the state economy. Over 10,000 industrial units have already been closed due to Covid in the state and any outage is likely to worsen the situation.

Demand falling, will manage

We hope to manage with the available stock as the power demand is decreasing. However, we are keeping tabs on the coal position in the state. As of now, we are managing things. A Venu Prasad, PSPCL CMD

Punjab’s coal-fired power stations are now left with less than three-day stock. With demand expected to go down after October 10, the state still faces power crisis, if the coal situation does not improve in the coming week.

Supplies to power plants are currently short following prolonged rains that have drenched coal pits as unusually heavy rain last month in major coal mining centres have worsened the situation.

At present, the power demand is around 9,924 MW, out of which central sector contributes 5,010 MW, private plants 2,510 MW, two state-owned plants 1,091 MW, while state-owned hyrdo projects supply 392 MW and solar and biomass 291 MW.

As per Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, private plants have less than three-day stock and if run at low capacity, it will last for a few more days. While Talwandi Sabo has 2.5 days’ stock, Rajpura Thermal has 2.9 days and Goindwal Sahib has 1.9 days of coal availability. Meanwhile, the state-owned two thermal plants have coal stock of 5.9 and 7.8 days, respectively.

“A majority of our plants are running at less than half their capacity, as shutting and then restarting a unit costs lakhs of rupees,” said a PSPCL officer.

“The industry has finally started operating after the Covid-induced lockdown and any power pangs now will hit the state’s economy hard,” he said, adding that the government had been apprised of the matter. India’s power sector is the largest consumer of coal in the country, with state-run Coal India Limited (CIL) being the largest miner of the fossil fuel.

Coal stocks are low at power projects due to an unprecedented increase in electricity demand with India’s economy revival, heavy rains in September impacting coal production and dispatch, a spike in imported coal prices, resulting in lower electricity generation, among others.

Power experts confirmed that not building up adequate coal stocks before monsoon resulted in inadequate supplies. “The CIL has already said if thermal power generation plants had maintained 22-day fuel stocks prescribed by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the low coal situation at thermal power projects could have been averted,” said a former chief engineer with PSPCL.

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