ANGUL: With production in the feeding mine going down significantly, coal stock in the 3,000 MW NTPC Kaniha plant has further plunged to an all-time low of only 30,000 tonne which is not even a day’s requirement. The coal stock was at 1.7 lakh tonne on May 8.
The power plant has plunged into supercritical stage for the last some days due to depletion of coal stock. In such a situation, NTPC authorities are mulling to shut down generating units and curtail power generation if the coal supply does not improve.
A top NTPC official requesting anonymity said the power plant is getting 40,000-45,000 tonne per day from MCL and other sources for the last few days against the normal supply of 55,000 tonne. Due to the deficit, the power plant had to use its stock which was at seven lakh tonne a few months back.
NTPC now draws only 5,000 tonne of coal from its linked mine at Kaniha as against the normal intake of 25,000 tonne. The fighting between two main political parties over engagement of local tippers and other machineries in coal production work at the nearby feeding Kaniha mine is hampering the normal output, sources said.
Coal authorities said against the normal production of 40,000 tonne, only 5000 tonne of coal is being produced from the beleaguered mine. “We are producing only 5,000 tonne per day from the mine and hence, are not able to supply the required coal to NTPC,” said a coal official.