Page 12 - Coal

Use of unapproved fuels, coal in NCR industries will shut down post-Jan 1

The Centre's air quality panel on Wednesday said industries using unapproved fuels, including coal, in Delhi-NCR will be closed down straightaway from January 1 and heavy fines will be imposed on them. However, the use of low-sulphur coal in thermal power plants is allowed, it said. "Pollution control authorities have been directed to close down industries and commercial establishments using unapproved fuels, including coal, without giving them any show cause notice. "Maximum environmental compensation will be levied on them according to the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Boards," an official of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said. The use of low-sulphur coal is also allowed in captive thermal power plants, the official clarified, saying "it could be used wherever the primary purpose is power generation". Firewood and biomass briquettes can be used for religious purposes and cremation, wood or bamboo charcoal can be used for tandoors and grills of ..

Coal consumers body seeks renewal of rake-based supply to non-power sector

The Coal Consumers Association of India (CCAI) has made a plea to the government to resume rake-based supplies to the non-power sector in a bid to maintain cost competitiveness and sustain operations. Despite Coal India's production and despatches improving considerably this year, the supply of dry fuel to the non-power sector continues to languish below optimal levels amidst spiralling costs. This situation has led to the non-power sector relying on road-based supplies, in turn leading to soaring costs for its constituent industries. Converting rail quantities to road offtake often attracts higher premiums than those already paid to Coal India Ltd (CIL) for rake-based supplies, CCAI said. "...converting rail quantity to road offtake may often lead to a higher premium for coal which may be more than the premium paid to CIL for supply via rail mode. This is invariably adding the additional burden of cost on the NRS (non-regulated sector) consumers on top of the higher transportation

2023 could be another strong yr for coal as demand may reach record levels

Coal India, companies with captive coal mines in steel, power and other sectors will be at an advantage

NTPC ropes in GE Power India to carry R&D to reduce carbon emissions

NTPC Ltd on Thursday said it has inked an agreement with GE Power India Limited to reduce carbon emission from its coal-fired units. This agreement aims at partnering on research, development and engineering of technologies that will enable NTPC to reduce the amount of coal fired at units and gradually replace it by co-firing of carboneous and non-carboneous elements, the power giant said in a statement. Carboneous elements include methanol, carbon-neutral fuel, agri-waste, biomass, while non-carboneous elements are like ammonia. "NTPC Limited and GE Power India Limited sign MoU to reduce carbon intensity from NTPC's coal fired units. This is a first-of-a-kind step for coal fleet decarbonisation in the country," the statement said. The collaboration is to support NTPC in co-firing biomass pellets up to 100 per cent gradually as well as enabling the co-firing of methanol. Ujjwal Kanti Bhattacharya, Director Projects, NTPC Limited, said: "We are looking forward to working with GE Po

5.86 GW coal, lignite based thermal projects non-operational: Power Min

Projects of 5.86 GW out of the total 210.6 GW coal and lignite based thermal power generation capacities in the country are non-operational, Parliament was informed on Thursday. "Out of 210.6 GW (coal and lignite based) monitored capacity of thermal power plants, 5.86 GW capacity is non-operational due to various reasons such as no Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), under National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) etc," Power Minister R K Singh said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. The minster also told the House that out of 5.86 GW (gigawatt) non-operational plants, one plant namely Bela Thermal Power Station (270 MW) was revived on October 2, 2022. In another reply to the House, Singh said the weighted average rate of sale of power came down to Rs 3.40 per unit in 2020-21 from Rs 3.95 in 2019-20 and Rs 3.65 per unit in 2018-19. Similarly, the average price of hydro power came down to Rs 2.64 per unit in 2020-21 from Rs 2.71 in 2019-20 and Rs 2.64 per unit in 2018-19. The average price of

Germany returns to coal as energy crisis overpowers climate targets

Europe's largest economy is burning the fossil fuel for electricity at the fastest pace in at least six years

Power demand to fall in H2, gencos' receivables to go up: Fitch Ratings

The LPS Rules regulate access to power in case of non-payment of dues by discoms to gencos

Tata Steel clears path for environment-friendly coke plant at Jamshedpur

Completes controlled demolition of obsolete facilities

Trends show coal is here to stay despite India's renewable energy goals

Coal is dirty -- it makes up for 40 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, its mining wreaks havoc on the environment and burning it produces pollutants like mercury which are linked to acid rain and particulate matter that causes respiratory illnesses. But the war in Ukraine has caused a mini-energy crisis globally, pushing its use to record levels this year. And India, the world's third largest energy consumer, was at the forefront of the global rise in coal usage as it fell back on the easiest available fossil fuel in the face of a surge in oil and gas prices that threatened to derail the economic recovery from the pandemic. The trends of coal consumption and production this year indicate that the dirty fuel is here to stay despite the nation's ambitious target of meeting 50 per cent of energy requirements from renewable energy and non-fossil fuel capacity of 500 GW by 2030. India's coal consumption has doubled since 2007 at an annual growth rate of 6 per cent an

World's coal use creeps to new high in 2022 amid increasing demand: Report

Coal use across the world is set to reach a new record this year amid persistently high demand for the heavily polluting fossil fuel, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. The Paris-based agency said in a new report that while coal use grew by only 1.2 per cent in 2022, the increase pushed it to all all-time high of more than 8 billion metric tons, beating the previous record set in 2013. The world's coal consumption will remain at similar levels in the following years in the absence of stronger efforts to accelerate the transition to clean energy, the agency said, noting that robust demand in emerging Asian economies would offset declining use in mature markets. This means coal will continue to be the global energy system's largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions by far, the IAE said. The use of coal and other fossil fuels needs to be drastically cut to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) this century. Experts say the ambitious .

Germany ramps up power generation from coal amid energy crisis: Report

More than a third of electricity produced and fed into the grid in Germany in the third quarter of 2022 was generated by coal-fired power plants, according to a report based on provisional results

Talk about coal

India must consider energy transition partnerships

Coal import by power sector rose to 39 MT in Apr-Oct FY23: Centre to LS

Import of coal by the power sector has increased in ongoing financial year and the sector imported 38.84 million tonne (MT) of the dry fuel in April-October period, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. "...import of coal by the power sector increased during current financial year of 2022-23. As against the total import of 27 MT by power sector in entire year of 2021-22, the import of coal by power sector in first 7 months increased to 38.84 MT," Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. However, much of the rise in import has gone to feed domestic coal-based plants, and the restoration of power generation by imported coal-based plants to its potential level has remained slow. As per the current import policy, coal is kept under open general licence and consumers are free to import coal from the source of their choice as per their contractual prices on payment of applicable duty. The Centre does not interfere in this matter. However, the power ministry had

India-G7 JETP stuck over coal, Centre's insistence on own transition plan

RE, tech transfer & green jobs on India's agenda, Germany & the US to co-lead the negotiations

Coal important for energy security, govt undertaking reforms: Pralhad Joshi

Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi while emphasising on the importance of dry fuel in securing energy security on Saturday said that the government is undertaking various reforms in the sector

Union minister Joshi stresses on role of coal in India's energy security

Union minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday said the nation's energy security is important and the country would still need around 1.5 billion tonnes of coal even if 50 per cent of energy demand is met through renewable sources. As a result, there was no need to worry about the future of dry fuel, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said. Speaking at an investor conclave in Mumbai, the minister said, "Our requirement for coal is increasing, our total dispatch in 2013-14 was 572 million tonnes, last year it was 817 million tonnes, this year it will be 900 million tonnes. Despite this, domestic production will not be able to fulfil full coal demand." While the total coal production from the domestic sources will be 1 billion tonnes, the total demand would be 1,300-1,400 million tonnes, he added. As the country is aiming to become self-reliant in the coal sector, deliberations are underway on how the country can perform sustainable coal mining, he explained. The power demand, he said, will doub

Railways ferries 124-mt freight in Nov, clocks 5% rise since last year

Officials peg FY23 freight between 1500-1550 mt

PowerMin invites bids to supply 4.5 Gw electricity during coming summer

Power to be supplied for five years, qualifying gencos to get coal under SHAKTI scheme

India considers selling small stakes in its mammoth coal, zinc miners

The government is looking to sell 5%-10% in Coal India Ltd, Hindustan Zinc Ltd, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd via the so-called offer-for-sale mechanism

Coal minister asks ECL to ramp up production to 50 MT during current fiscal

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday directed the officers of the Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) to work for achieving the production target of 50 MT during the current fiscal to meet the energy requirement of the country, a statement said. In 2021-22, ECL produced 45 million tonnes (MT) of coal. On the second day of his two-day visit to the ECL areas, Joshi inaugurated several infrastructure projects that would help increase coal-loading capacity and control the pollution caused by coal production and dispatch, the statement said. Joshi also visited the View Point of Sonepur Bazari opencast project. He inspected the project and held a review meeting with officials. The minister also visited the underground coal mine in Jhanjhara, about 225 metres deep. At an annual production capacity of 3.5 MT, it is the most coal-producing underground mine in India, the statement said. Joshi is the first coal minister to visit the mine. There, he interacted with coal mine workers, besides ...