Power supply in Maharashtra may improve from mid-May after coal imports

The power supply scenario in Maharashtra may improve marginally from mid-May after the state-owned electricity generation utility imports coal from abroad

The power supply scenario in Maharashtra may improve marginally from mid-May after the state-owned electricity generation utility imports coal from abroad. This will add to the dwindled coal inventory and ramp up generation at thermal power plants.

The Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited will import 20 lakh metric tonnes of coal. Bloomberg File Photo

The Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (MahaGenco) will import 20 lakh metric tonnes of coal. This stockpile is expected to reach the power plants by mid-May and help ease the situation when the demand is expected to rise further.

The growth in electricity demand caused by the soaring heat and consumption by industrial and agricultural consumers has led to the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) facing a gap of around 2,500 MW to 3,000 MW. The power distribution utility has started load-shedding or power cuts across the state. The crisis has been exacerbated by the nationwide coal supply crisis, which has affected the coal inventories and capacity utilisation at the MahaGenco’s thermal power stations.

The power demand in Maharashtra has risen to a record 28,000 MW. The MSEDCL is servicing a demand of around 24,800 MW, which is a rise of around 4,000 MW compared to the previous year. This demand is expected to grow to around 25,500 MW and that of the state may rise to as high as 30,000 MW by June.

“We have decided to import 20 lakh tonnes of coal. Around 5% to 10% of this will be blended with domestic coal. We are at the tender finalisation stage and the coal stocks are expected to reach us from Indonesia within a month since the work orders are placed,” a MahaGenco official said, adding the coal would be delivered to them mid-May.

This decision to import coal to tide over the fuel supply crunch was in line with the Union government’s directives. The gross calorific value of this imported coal is higher, translating into better generation efficiencies for thermal power sets.

The MahaGenco usually imports coal to tide over supply shortfalls. It has last imported coal in 2020. It has a 13,902 MW capacity, including 9,750 MW in coal-based thermal power, 2,580 MW in hydro power, 672 MW gas, and 207 MW in solar energy.

It needs around 1,38,710 metric tonnes of coal every day to run its generating stations at optimum capacity (around 85% plant load factor). It gets a bulk of its coal supply (60%) from Western Coalfields Limited, followed by South Eastern Coalfields Limited and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited.

The MahaGenco conventionally maintains varying levels of coal inventories at the thermal power plants based on their distance from the pitheads or coal mines. On average, an inventory of 15 days is maintained in projects that are far from mines, and around a week for those close to pitheads, officials said. It has seven thermal power stations at Koradi, Nashik, Bhusawal, Parli, Paras, Chandrapur and Khaparkheda.

The official said more critically, the coal supply shortfall had affected their capacity to create a buffer stock of coal for the monsoons, when coal supply is affected and wet coal from open cast mines is received. Wet coal cannot be immediately used for power generation.

The MahaGenco usually builds up a buffer stock for the rainy season by creating a daily inventory of around 10,000 to 15,000 metric tonnes a day since November. Over around 200 days, this helps build up a 20 lakh metric tonnes stockpile to help tide over any possible supply disruptions in the monsoons.