India orders 112 coal plants to maximise output despite thin fuel stocks
India ordered 112 industrial coal plants with at least 50 megawatts of capacity to operate at maximum available output from 1 October to 31 December. The government expects electricity demand to rise and wants surplus power sold through exchanges. Yet nearly 40 per cent of coal-fired plants have critically low fuel stocks, leaving the order dependent on how much coal reaches the sites.
Economics & Markets··Evening
The order covers 112 industrial generators
India’s power ministry issued the order on 25 September for 112 captive coal-fired plants with installed capacity of at least 50 megawatts. They are to operate at maximum available capacity from 1 October through 31 December, a period in which the ministry expects electricity use to rise. These generators mainly serve industrial facilities rather than households directly: aluminium smelters, steel mills, cement factories and oil refineries. The list includes plants operated by companies such as Tata Steel, Vedanta, Hindalco, Reliance Industries and Indian Oil. The order therefore changes the operating requirement for a substantial group of industrial power suppliers before the expected rise in demand arrives.[1], [2]
Surplus power goes to the exchanges
Under Section 11 of India’s Electricity Act, the government can direct generators’ operations in extraordinary circumstances. The ministry instructed these plants to sell electricity left over after their own industrial use through power exchanges. Operators must send weekly figures to the Central Electricity Authority, the national power data and planning body. Those reports are to cover generation, electricity used on site, sales, available capacity and coal stocks. The stock figures matter because the instruction calls for maximum available output rather than simply naming each plant’s installed capacity. Each week’s available output depends on the plant’s operating condition and fuel on hand.[1]
Fuel stocks complicate the timetable
The report says nearly 40 per cent of India’s coal-fired plants have critically low fuel stocks amid stronger power demand. The ministry links part of the expected demand increase to hotter weather associated with El Niño. Separately, it extended an earlier emergency instruction for Tata Power’s imported-coal plant at Mundra in Gujarat to run at full capacity until 31 December. Mundra’s imported fuel supply is distinct from the coal available to the captive industrial plants covered by the new order. Their required weekly stock reports will show the fuel position while the order remains in force.[1]
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