Coal stock at the country’s thermal power plants improved to 72% of the normative stock level as of December 30, compared to just 58% of the required levels in the same period of last year, data from the Central Electricity Authority showed. The country’s thermal plants had a coal stock of 44.98 million tonnes as of Dec 30 against the normative level of 62.39 million tonnes for this time of the year.
Moreover, of the 184 thermal plants with a total generation capacity of 211 gigawatt (GW), 27 reported to have a critical stock level of which 15 were domestic coal-based plants. A plant is said to have a critical stock situation when the dry fuel is less than 25% of the normative level. During the same period of last year, stock levels at 30 plants out of 182 reported to have a critical stock.
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The coal stocks at power plants have improved this year owing to various measures including efficient logistical arrangements by the government to ensure adequate availability of coal amid rising demand for power.
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The domestic coal based (DCB) thermal plants including pithead and non-pithead with a total capacity of 193 GW had 73% of the normative coal stocks at 42.56 million tonnes. The normative level of stocks required at DCB plants is 58.16 million tonnes for this time of the year.
On the other hand, the 17 imported coal-based non-pithead plants with a total generation capacity of 17.96 GW had 57% coal stocks of the required level. The total coal stocks as on December 30 in the imported coal-based plants were at 2.4 million tonnes against a normative stock requirement of 4.2 million tonnes.
The peak power demand this year touched 250 GW in May against the government’s projection of 260 GW. The CEA has now estimated the peak demand to touch 270 GW in the next financial year 2025-26. It expects the peak power demand to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7% in the next five years against the current CAGR of 6%.
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