State reeling under power shortage due to fuel deficiency in its thermal power plants
The central government has promised to "rationalise" coal supply to Maharashtra which is reeling under power shortage due to deficiency of the fuel in its thermal power plants.
The state government is also planning a solar power project beside the Mumbai-Pune Expressway to tide over the shortfall in power supply.
Coal shortage is stifling the state's power generation utility, which has over 70% of its installed capacity in thermal power (7,980MW), leading to units with 630MW capacity being shut down.
In addition, water shortage has forced the company to shut down another 210MW at Parli.
On Tuesday, the demand was 17,144MW, and supply 16,268 MW, leading to load shedding of 876MW. This was higher than Monday's figure of 690MW.
On Tuesday night, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior officials met Union minister of state for power and coal Piyush Goyal and CMDs of public sector coal companies which provide fuel linkages to Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (MahaGenco).
"The situation is critical. We have coal to last just 1.2 to 1.4 days at various power stations. The stock will definitely not last over two days. We have sought more coal," said a MahaGenco official, adding that Goyal had asked coal companies to ramp up supplies.
"The demand for power this year is more, so we generated more power and hence stocks have depleted," he added.
"The minister assured us increased supplies from existing linkages and from mines closer to Maharashtra. This will bring down transport costs and ensure better supply," a senior official told dna.
Two 210MW sets each have been shut down at Chandrapur and Bhusawal, and another 200MW unit has been closed at Koradi. A 500MW set at Khaparkheda has been taken out for overhaul, and the 210MW Parli unit has been shut due to water shortage.
"Production at all power plants has been hit due to coal shortage," admitted another MahaGenco official.
An official said they were exploring the feasibility of setting up a solar power project along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. But as it's in the preliminary stage, it is difficult to predict its total capacity.
CM Fadnavis has asked power utilities to re-start old and shut-down plants and explained the need to ensure uninterrupted power supply to farmers during rabi season. Goyal wants coal unloading facilities at Maharashtra ports vitalized to enable Coal India Limited (CIL) to make supplies available.
A MahaGenco official said though Machhakata coal mine in Odisha, which had been allocated to MahaGuj Collieries Limited, had been de-allocated as per the recent Supreme Court order cancelling coal block allocations, the Centre had promised to look into it at the earliest.
MahaGuj was a joint venture between MahaGenco and Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited, and the coal supplied was expected to fire up over 6,000MW capacity in the two states, including 3,890MW in Maharashtra. According to the official, Goyal had assured that MahaGenco would get an alternative coal mine without taking the bidding route as per the new coal block ordinance.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}