NEW DELHI: In response to concerns regarding potential coal shortages amid a soaring summer and high electricity demand, Coal India announced a buffer stock of 168 million tonnes of coal in the country, which is sufficient to meet the needs of domestic thermal power plants for 19 days.
Coal India emphasized that fluctuations in coal stock levels at thermal plants during peak summer are a natural occurrence. The company indicated that approximately 50 million tonnes of in-situ mine coal are readily available for swift extraction and supply as demand requires.
Coal-fired power stations are projected to maintain a normative stock of 26 days, calculated at an 85% plant load factor, which reflects the volume of electricity generated compared to maximum output at full capacity. To sustain this level, a requirement of 75 million tonnes of coal has been established, while the total stock availability is currently at 49.7 million tonnes, representing 66% of the normative requirement.
According to the daily coal stock report from the Central Electricity Authority, out of the 190 coal-fired plants in the country, which collectively have a capacity of 223 gigawatts, 24 plants were listed as having critical coal stocks as of May 26, meaning their available coal was less than 25% of the normative requirement.
India is currently experiencing an intense heatwave, which has led to a surge in power demand across many regions. Peak power demand reached 271 gigawatts on May 21. Coal-based power plants are responsible for nearly 68% of the country’s total electricity requirements during the daytime.
As of May 23, Coal India Limited, which supplies roughly 80% of the nation’s coal needs, reported stocks at domestic coal-based plants were at 47.6 million tonnes. Additionally, inventory at its own mine heads stood at a “comfortable” level of 113.5 million tonnes as of May 24, representing a 10% increase compared to the same period in 2022.
Coal India noted that this level of supply is adequate to meet consumption for 19 days. Furthermore, around 3 million tonnes of coal are in transit at locations such as goods sheds, private washeries, and ports. The company stated that roughly 4 million tonnes of coal remain in constant transit, bringing the total coal available in the system to 168 million tonnes.
The public sector company advised power plants experiencing low coal availability to proactively build up their stock ahead of peak demand periods. “CIL has adequate quantity to meet the generation capacity of domestic coal-based plants,” it affirmed in a statement.
