Page 4 - Thermal Power

CCEA approves Rs 5,607 cr investments by Coal India in two power projects

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved equity investments of Rs 5,607 crore by state-owned South Eastern Coalfields and Mahanadi Coalfields to set up two thermal power projects with total generation capacities of 2,260 MW. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, an official statement said. According to the statement, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) will set up a 660 MW thermal power plant through a joint venture of SECL and MPPGCL. Similarly, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) will set up a 2x800 MW thermal power plant through Mahanadi Basin Power Ltd (MBPL - a subsidiary of MCL). There will be an equity capital of Rs 823 crore (plus or minus 20 per cent) by SECL with an estimated project capex of Rs 5,600 crore (accuracy of plus or minus 20 per cent) for the proposed 660 MW supercritical thermal power plant through JV of SECL and MPPGCL at Amarkantak Thermal

India's path to renewable energy: Balancing growth and coal transition

As the share of renewable energy (RE) increases in the country's energy mix, it is expected that the dependency on coal will decline

BHEL to set up 2,400 MW thermal power plant at Odisha's Jharsuguda

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) will set up a greenfield thermal power plant of 2,400 MW capacity in Odisha's Jharsuguda district, an official statement said on Saturday. NLC India Limited, a Navaratna company under the Ministry of Coal, has awarded the EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contract to BHEL to set the 2,400 MW capacity (3x800 MW-stage I) after inviting competitive tenders, it said. The contract scope to BHEL includes engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection and commissioning of equipment such as boilers, turbines and generators for the plant, the statement said. For the thermal project, coal linkage is available from Talabira II and III mines of NLCIL. The water required for the project will be sourced from Hirakud reservoir, it said. The first unit of the project is scheduled for commissioning in the financial year 2028-29.

Thermal power is back in business as govt makes commitment clear

Deals in Punjab and Odisha shows coal-fired plants are crucial to economy

Punjab govt buys Goindwal Sahib thermal power plant for Rs 1,080 crore

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said the state government has bought a 540-megawatt private thermal power plant at Goindwal Sahib. "It is for the first time that a private power plant is being bought by the government," Mann said at a news conference here. "We have purchased it for Rs 1,080 crore, which works out to a cost of Rs 2 crore per megawatt," Mann said. Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) in July last year filed a bid to take over the 540 MegaWatt private thermal power plant at Goindwal Sahib. The 540 MW thermal power plant is an independent power plant and is spread over 1,100 acres of land in Goindwal Sahib in Tarn Taran.

AIPEF demands probe into coal shortage at thermal power plants, imports

All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) on Tuesday demanded an independent enquiry into shortage of coal at various thermal power plants as well as the imports of dry fuel in the country. The engineers' body also said the central government should bear the additional cost of coal imports by power generation utilities, according to an AIPEF statement. It said that certain entities are benefitting from rising coal imports and demand from a number of power producers leads to an increase in the price of the dry fuel in the international market. AIPEF chairman Shailendra Dubey said the term of reference of the enquiry should include who are the main beneficiaries of coal imports. According to AIPEF, imports of coal have increased after the government has made it mandatory for imported coal based plant to run with full capacity and instructed the domestic coal based plants to increase blending of imported coal from 4 per cent to 6 per cent. In March this year, the government issued

Uttar Pradesh govt to invest Rs 18K crore in coal-fired power plant

This comes amid the rep­orts that the Government of India is looking at facilitating easier funding for new coal-fired thermal power plants in the wake of a sharp jump in electricity demand

State govts falling back on thermal power as electricity demand surges

In 2014, it was coal supply. Between 2016-2018, it was Central schemes on rural and urban electrification and reforms for power distribution companies

Coal ministry to ensure adequate availability of dry fuel at thermal plants

The coal ministry on Monday said it has plans to produce additional quantity of the dry fuel to ensure sufficient availability for thermal power plants. Production enhancement measures include opening of new blocks, expansion of mines capacity and production from captive, commercial mines. "All these three operational components are contributing and have clear plans for further enhancement. The production plans for year 2027 and 2030 will far exceed the likely domestic requirement of thermal power plants in the country, including that for likely additional capacity," the coal ministry said in a statement. The ministry plans to produce 1,404 million tonnes (MT) of coal by 2027 and 1,577 MT by 2030 from the current level of production of about one billion tonnes per annum. Coal supplied to domestic coal-based power plant is around 821 MT for the current year. The ministry said it has taken note of the additional coal requirement for the additional 80 GW of thermal capacity to be add

12 Gw thermal power by next year to meet high demand, says R K Singh

Singh said most states agreed to enhance generation capacity - both conventional (coal) and renewable

Coal India's supply to thermal power plants rises 11% to 50.8 MT in October

State-owned CIL's coal supply to electricity generating plants rose by 11 per cent to 50.8 MT in October amid higher power demand in the festive month. The fuel supply by Coal India Ltd (CIL) to the power sector was 45.8 MT in October last fiscal. The higher supply of five million tonnes (MT) was despite rain lashed across the mines of CIL's subsidiaries based in the eastern part of the country -- Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) and partly Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) -- during the first week of October, the maharatna firm said in a statement. In the first seven months of the current financial year, coal supply by CIL to the power sector increased by 15 MT to 346 MT from 331 MT a year ago, registering a growth of 4.5 per cent. "The quantum supplies to the power sector were 4.7 MT more than the progressive commitment of 341.3 MT till October," the statement said. The company is confident of breaching the annual supply targe

Federal Bank to stop funding for thermal power projects by 2030: Official

Federal Bank, the largest and the oldest private sector lender in Kerala, will completely stop funding for thermal power projects by 2030, according to a senior bank official. As a first step towards its de-carbonisation initiative, the Kochi-headquartered bank will halve its exposure to the thermal power sector by 2025. The bank's green power sector exposure is Rs 5,083 crore across seven to eight projects, mostly solar and wind areas. "We have internally set a target of completely stopping funding thermal power projects/traditional energy sector by 2030. As a first step towards achieving our decarbonisation efforts, we will be halving our exposure to this polluting sector by 2025," Ashutosh Khajuria, the chief mentor at the bank, told PTI here. Currently, the bank's green loan book is Rs 5,083 crore and the sanctioned book of Rs 7,490 crore. "We see our green book crossing Rs 13,000 crore by 2025," Khajuria, who retired recently as an executive director of the bank, said. On the

India may add up to 30 GW more thermal power capacity, says R K Singh

Union Power Minister R K Singh on Friday said that India may add 25 GW to 30 GW thermal electricity generation capacity in addition to 50 GW already under works to meet the rising demand. Addressing at a CII conference, Singh said that India has around 25 GW of thermal capacity under construction and another 25 GW is planned. He pointed out that India is growing at a rapid pace and electricity demand is rising very fast, which needs to be met. He stated that the country may add another 25 GW to 30 GW of thermal power capacity to meet the demand. Power demand in the country has already touched a record high of 241 GW early this month.

73 thermal plants under 4 rounds of rationalisation of coal linkages

A total of 73 thermal power plants have been covered under the four rounds of rationalisation of coal linkages, an official statement said on Friday. Of the 73 Thermal Power Plants (TPPs), 58 belong to state/central gencos (generation companies) and 15 are Independent Power Producers (IPPs), the statement, released by the Ministry of Coal, said. "So far, four rounds of rationalisation of linkage have taken place, covering 73 TPPs," the statement said. The move has resulted in the rationalising of 92.16 Million Tonnes (MT) of coal, with a potential annual saving of about Rs 6,420 crore, the statement said. The government had introduced the rationalisation initiative to reduce the distance in transportation of coal from Coal Mines to consumers, thereby decreasing transportation costs and increasing efficiency in coal-based power generation. Coal India Ltd shall be the nodal agency for conducting the linkage rationalisation.

Rs 10,500 crore in the pipeline for coal-fired thermal power project in UP

The Jawaharpur plant is being equipped with supercritical technology. It will be fed with coal from the Saharpur Jamarpani coal block in Jharkhand to be developed by UPRVUNL

Thermal power firms may transition to green energy faster than anticipated

State-owned NTPC is by far the largest to make the transition, but Tata Power and even Adani Power, despite the noises surrounding its coal business, are on the same trajectory

Power Min mandates 40% renewable purchase obligation for thermal plants

The Ministry of Power has mandated new coal or lignite-based thermal plants to either set up renewable energy capacity equivalent to at least 40 per cent of the thermal plant's capacity or procure that much supply of green energy under renewable purchase obligation. Earlier this month the power ministry amended the Tariff Policy 2016 under Electricity Act 2003 to impose the renewable purchase obligation of 40 per cent for the new coal or lignite-based thermal power plants to be set up from April 1, 2023 onwards, showed a notification. "... any generating company establishing a coal/lignite-based thermal generating station and having the Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the project on or after April 1, 2023 shall be required to establish renewable energy generating capacity (in MW) i.e. Renewable Generation Obligation (RGO) of a minimum of 40 per cent of the capacity of the thermal generating station or procure and supply renewable energy equivalent to such capacity," it explained.

Icra revises thermal power sector outlook to 'stable' on strong demand

Rating agency Icra has revised thermal power sector outlook to 'stable' from 'negative' due to strong demand growth and realisation of dues from discoms under LPS (late payment surcharge) scheme. The Icra's outlook for the thermal power segment has been revised to stable from negative, supported by the healthy improvement in the thermal PLF (plant load factor or capacity utilisation) level in FY2023, which is likely to sustain in FY2024, coupled with the reduction in dues from state distribution utilities (discoms), an Icra statement said. The PLF improvement is driven by the strong recovery in electricity demand growth in the country. A sustained growth in electricity demand is expected to improve the visibility on the signing of new power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the thermal IPPs (independent power producers), it stated. Vikram V, Vice President & Sector Head - corporate ratings, Icra, said, "The all-India thermal PLF level is expected to improve from 58.9 per cent in ...

New thermal plants: A reality check

The quest to secure India's energy future should not lead to suboptimal policy solutions

Adani Power's Rs 7000 crore deal to buy DB Power assets falls through

Adani Power Ltd's Rs 7,017-crore deal to buy thermal power assets of DB Power has fallen after the initial pact expired. "We wish to inform that the long stop date under the memorandum of understanding dated August 18, 2022, has expired," Adani Power said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. Earlier in August 2022, Adani Power had informed the bourses that it has agreed to acquire DB Power Ltd (DB Power), which owns and operates a running 2x600 MW thermal power plant at district Janjgir Champa in Chhattisgarh. Queries regarding the status of the deal sent to Adani Power did not elicit any response. This assumes significance in view of allegations of fraud against Adani group by the US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research. This issue rocked Parliament also earlier this month and opposition had demanded Joint Parliamentary Committee as well as a Supreme Court monitored probe into the issue. The initial term of the MOU (memorandum of understanding) was October 31, 2022. Later the .