Union minister for electricity and green energy Raj Kumar Singh declared confidence that the country is well-prepared to meet interest this summer even as power demand soared to near record levels. In an interview, Singh highlighted the government’s efforts to ensure adequate availability of coal at thermal power plants, with domestic coal stock standing at 31.71 million tonnes.
Power demand is near record levels, and exchange prices are frequently hitting the price cap. How prepared is the power sector to meet the summer demand?
We are prepared. We carried out our exercises well in time, and we put systems well in advance. So, we are fully prepared. To ensure capacity, we issued orders under Section 11, saying that all imported coal-based plants have to be on par and offer power. Normally at any time of the year, 15,000-18,000MW is under planned maintenance. We have said that planned maintenance will not happen during this period when the demand is going to touch the peak. So, now, the planned maintenance has come down to 500-400MW. We have ensured that we have enough coal stocks to last. We have done that by taking steps in advance. We started blending from the beginning. Till now, our blending (of imported coal) would have amounted to about 33-34 million tonnes. The domestic coal stock (at power plants) yesterday was 31.71 million tonnes. The domestic coal stock yesterday was 31.71 million tonnes.
Source: PTI
