Coal stocks at thermal power plants improve in June: CEA

Coal stocks at thermal power stations in the country have shown an increase, mainly due to improved supplies of the fuel and lower demand for electricity.

Only five plants had less than four days of coal stocks at their disposal as of June 27, according to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data. Comparatively, as many as 13 power stations had on average less than four days of fuel inventory in May.

"The overall fuel supplies have increased, a prime reason for improved coal storage at plants. Also, another reason is that the PLF or plant load factor of stations is declining due to less demand from the states," a Power Ministry official told PTI. PLF is a measure of a plant's efficiency.

Three of the plants with less than four days of coal belong to NTPC, the country's largest power producer -- the 2,980 MW Sipat project in Chhattisgarh, and the 2,600 MW Ramagundem and 2,000 MW Simhadri units in Andhra Pradesh. The three plants also had supercritical stocks in May.

However, as many as five power stations had fuel stocks for more than 40 days, according to the data. The normal requirement of plants ranges from 15 to 30 days of coal inventory.

The reason for lower demand from the states is because they are unable to buy expensive electricity.

Decreased power demand has led to a decline in tariffs. Average electricity prices fell to as low as Rs 1.93/kWh in the Eastern region while in the South, the average rates dropped to as much as Rs 4.42 per unit, according to the Indian Energy Exchange's trading figures for June.

A kilowatt hour, or kWh, is a unit used to measure electricity delivered to consumers by utilities.