VIJAYAWADA: A day after writing to the neighbouring Telangana State government to increase the supply of coal to overcome the shortfall in thermal power generation in the State, the government on Monday said it had stocked sufficient coal ahead of the rainy season. However, the Energy Department has to rely on thermal power generation due to a decrease in wind and solar power output because of weather conditions, which resulted in a shortage of coal. In fact, the State has maintained more coal-stock before the rainy season this year compared to last year, said Secretary (Energy) N Srikant.
As on September 30, 2018, Vijayawada Thermal Power Station (VTPS), Rayalaseema Thermal Power Project (RTPP) and Krishnapatnam Thermal Power Project (KTPP) had a total coal stock of 46,486 metric tonnes on September 30, 2019 as against 29,543 metric tonnes on September 30, 2018, he explained.
However, the existing coal is not sufficient for the thermal power production to the peak load factor of the installed capacity. Hence, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had written a letter to Union Minister for Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi requesting an alternative supply of coal under the Fuel Supply Agreement. Further, he also requested his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao to double the supply of coal to Andhra Pradesh from Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
The additional coal stocks had helped the thermal stations to maintain required production in August and September despite the short supply of coal for various reasons, including rains in coal mines, strikes by workers in Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) and SCCL.
In the next seven days starting today, the State will receive eight rakes of coal from SCCL as against the four that are being supplied to the State. Further, power from the power exchange is being purchased from Monday onwards. Officials admitted that there was a shortfall in the wind and solar power production due to weather fluctuations from September 17 to 29. The wind and solar power generation were not sufficient to meet the load during peak hours from 7 to 10 pm.