Vedanta's power sales up 22% in FY19 on record load at TSPL

Vedanta Ltd accomplished 22 per cent growth in commercial power sales in FY19, riding on higher sales from its flagship plant at Talwandi Sabo (Punjab).

During 2018-19, Vedanta's total power sales stood at 13,517 million units, buoyed by higher availability at Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL) which overcame a mishap in the coal conveyor in Q1 to post a record Plant Load Factor (PLF) of 88 per cent.

"Power sales at TSPL were 4,778 million units with 83 per cent availability in H2 (October-March) FY2019. At TSPL, the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Punjab State Electricity Board compensates us based on the availability of the plant," Vedanta said in its production release for the year ended March 31, 2019.

The 600 Mw Independent Power Producer (IPP) at Bharat Aluminium Company, owned by Vedanta also shored up its power sales. The unit witnessed a marked improvement in its PLF, rising from 40 per cent in the second half (October-March) of FY18 to 51 per cent in H1 of FY19 and inching up to 54 per cent in H2 of the last financial  year. PLF hike was powered by improved coal availability. Power sold from the BALCO plant spiked 41 per cent to 2168 million units in FY19

On the flip side, Vedanta’s power operations were throttled by its 600 Mw Jharsuguda IPP in Odisha. The plant located in the vicinity of the Group owned aluminium smelters, could barely operate at 26 per cent PLF in H2 of last fiscal, weighed down by coal shortages. Power sale from this unit fell 11 per cent to 1172 million units in FY19.