Poor coal quality pulls down OPGC output

Despite having installed capacity of 420 MW, the company's plant at Ib valley is operating below the level of 290 MW

Odisha Power Generation Corporation Ltd (OPGC), the only state owned thermal power producer has been sustaining huge losses in production thanks to poor quality of coal supplied by linked Lakhanpur coal mines owned by Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL).

Despite having an installed capacity of 420 MW, OPGC’s coal-fired plant at Ib valley near Jharsuguda is operating below the level of 290 MW even though coal is fed at a rate beyond the design of the plant.

Taking stock of the situation, OPGC chairman and secretary (energy) P K Jena has written to MCL chairman and managing director (CMD) A N Sahay, urging him to take necessary steps to restore supplies of good quality of coal.

MCL, however, said there are no issues with the coal quality.

“Coal quality depends on its calorific value. So far as OPGC is concerned, I do not think there are issues with the coal quality since we are supplying G12 grade of coal as per the requirement of the power station”, said MCL 's director (production) A K Tiwari.

This is not the first instance of OPGC lashing out at MCL, complaining about the coal quality.

In July 2012, the then energy secretary G Mathi Vathanan had also written to the MCL CMD stating that coal supplied from the company's Lakhanpur mines has been quite poor and inconsistent.

It may be noted that OPGC is pursuing its capacity addition plan at Ib valley wherein it will add two supercritical units of 660 MW each. The corporation recently signed a contract agreement with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) for supply of main plant of the equipment consisting of boiler, turbine and generator at a deal valued at Rs 4051 crore.

The expansion plan of OPGC, a 51:49 joint venture between the Odisha government and US-based AES Corporation Ltd, involved addition of two supercritical units, each of 660 MW, being taken up at a cost of Rs 11,547 crore which also includes cost of other components like coal block development and dedicated rail corridor .

The state utility in November 2012, tied up funding of Rs 8,660 crore from Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification (REC), by executing a loan agreement with the two Central PSUs. The balance funding is to be borne proportionately by the Odisha government and US-based AES.