NTPC, CIL output rises, power outages to ebb

The frequent and long power outages in several part of country, which are mainly due to lack of adequate coal supplies, may soon end. NTPC, the largest power generator, as well as Coal India, the largest supplier of the fuel to thermal plants, reported handsome improvement in generation and production during the first quarter of the current financial year.

This is in backdrop of the critical stock levels at several power plants that recently impacted generation. NTPC, which has a commissioned capacity of 53,651 megawatt , has achieved 7.45% year-on-year power generation growth in April-June period to hit the highest quarterly generation of 69 billion units (BU) against the previous high of 68.6 BU in the fourth quarter of 2017-18.

“This shows that the company is fully prepared to meet the spurt in demand,” NTPC said in a statement on Monday.

NTPC’s power generation largely depends on supply of coal, its main input, mostly controlled by Coal India.

Coal India, in turn, has reported a production growth of 15.4% in supplies to power plants, which touched 122.84 million tonne (mt) during the first quarter.

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Its production also jumped in a similar fashion by 15.2% to 136.87 mt during the June quarter.

With this, the number of power plants suffering critical stock has come down from 30 in April to 16 as on June-end on the normative stock requirement parameter of 22 days.

Availability of rail wagons to carry the coal from mine site to power plants also impacts stock availability with power plants.

Against 189.9 rakes a day in the first quarter of FY18, Coal India is trying to raise it to 217.04 rakes a day this year.

By Sumit Moitra, DNA Money