Tamil Nadu power utility to import 9 mn MT of coal in March to tide over summer crisis

Chennai, Feb 25 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) will import 9 million metric tonnes of coal in March to provide uninterrupted power supply during summer.

The coal, according to sources in Tangedco, will be imported from Indonesia. This decision is following the Union Coal ministry directing the state governments to import 6 per cent of their coal requirements in summer.

It is to be noted that Tangedco was receiving coal from Odisha's Talchar and Telengana's Singareni mines and during summer the need for coal will be on a high across all states. This will lead to the supply of coal from these mines difficult as demand cannot be met according to the production of coal.

In Tamil Nadu, there are five thermal power plants with a total installed capacity of 4320 MW. This would lead to a consumption of 64 MT of coal per day in the state. This will generate 74 million units of power as against the 80 million units required in the state.

Tangedco has at present a stock of coal lasting for only 9 days and the thermal power plants in the state is able to generate 60 to 70 per cent of their capacity. Sources in Tangedco told IANS that a 100 per cent generation of power from these thermal plants is impossible due to various factors including some units having crossed the age, maintenance factor, and in some cases technical errors.

The Tamil Nadu power utility has sent proposals to the Union government to increase the number of coal racks received by the state from 18 to 22.

A senior official with Tangedco told IANS that the exact date of coal import from Indonesia is not finalised and will mostly be in the first week of March.