Indian coal companies are ramping up supply to the coal-fired power plants as coal stocks at dozens of the plants dropped to critically low levels, India’s Ministry of Coal said on Monday.
More than 50 coal-fired power plants in India, where coal is still the single largest electricity generator, saw their coal stocks fall below the critically low level of 25% as electricity demand rises amid the strong El Niño, but supply has been disrupted by monsoon rains.
The number of power plants with critically low coal stocks rose to 53 as of September 5, from 45 on August 26, the latest data by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) showed.
Coal shipments via rail to power plants have increased in recent days, the Coal Ministry said today. The rise “reflects the sustained efforts of Coal India Limited (CIL), its subsidiaries, SCCL and captive mine operators to ramp up coal supply to the power sector,” the ministry added.
“The number of critical thermal plants (stock below 25% of normative requirement) are being closely monitored, with corrective coal supply measures already in place to further ease the position at these plants,” the ministry noted.
The Ministry of Coal and state-owned Coal India Limited, the world’s biggest coal miner, “remain committed to sustaining this improving trend in rake loading to the power sector and meeting the requirements,” India said.
In August, monsoon-related disruptions to domestic supply tightened the immediate availability and transportation of coal from the coal-rich producing states to the coal-fired power plants.
Stocks at India’s power plants declined by 15.5% between August 1 and 23, as receipts of coal deliveries lagged the rate of coal burns, commodity consultancy BigMint said last month.
The monsoon season in India has been disrupted by El Niño, with hotter-than-usual temperatures driving up power demand.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
