Fuel shortage known to discoms; notices given in advance: NTPC

Amid reports of complaints by power company of short supply of electricity, the state-run power producer NTPC today said fuel shortage is known to discoms and notices is given to them in advance about shortage of raw material.
"NTPC is supposed to communicate with the distribution companies or transmission companies only on the planned outages, which is recorded in the monthly meetings of RLDC," NTPC said in a statement.
At instances where coal is not available because of non- availability of coal or non-availability of rakes, normally notice is given a day ahead, as per the grid code and if any revision is required for any reason, notice is given to RLDC 4 blocks in advance i.E. One hour, it added.

"In case of Dadri (700 MW is not available out of 2,640 MW) and Singrauli (500 MW is not available out of 2,000 MW), there is a coal shortage in the stations which is known to all since the same is available on the CEA's website," NTPC said.
As per the latest data (September 29) by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), 56 coal-based power plants reported critical fuel stocks of less than seven days.
As many as 11 power stations were left with nil stocks on the day, the data said.

Of the 56 stations, 33 had less than four days of stockpiles. These 33 stations include 10 power stations run by country's leading thermal power producer NTPC.

The country's largest producer of power NTPC said that it is trying its best to run the stations on whatever coal is made available.
"It is relevant to mention here that Delhi has surrendered 693 MW of electricity from Jhajjar station which is a JV of Delhi, Haryana and NTPC. Further, 1,300 MW power on RLNG is available in the Northern Grid from NTPC stations, which can also be scheduled at any time," the statement said.