Allaying the coal shortage apprehensions even as daily coal consumption by the country’s thermal power plants has increased sharply, state-run Coal India on Tuesday said there is a 168 million tonne coal buffer to meet the summer demand.
Coal stocks at domestic coal-based plants stood at 47.6 million tonne (MT) as on May 23, while the coal inventory at Coal India’s own mine heads was at a comfortable level of 113.5 MT as on May 24, higher by 10 per cent year-on-year, the coal behemoth said in a stock exchange filing.
“This level is sufficient to meet 19 days of consumption. Added to this, around 3 MTs of coal is awaiting at transit points such as goods sheds, private washeries and ports,” it said. Rakes on Run, that is, coal in transit at any point of time is around 4 MTs, making a total of 168 MTs of coal available in the system.
Compression of coal stock levels at coal fired plants during peak summer is a natural occurrence rather than a supply-side crisis, CIL said.
Along with coal adequacy, there is around 50 MT in-situ mine coal on tap, ready for quicker extraction and supply if the demand necessitates. Of the 21 plants categorized under criticality (as of 20 May), 11 are domestic coal-based plants of which seven source their coal from CIL.
“CIL has been corresponding with power plants to build up their stocks for peak demand periods in advance, when there is ample coal, especially in case of the plants located at difficult logistic points. As such CIL has adequate quantity to meet the generation capacity of domestic coal-based plants,” the company added.