ANGUL: It has been four days since the strike at Talcher Coalfields was called off but, power plants in its periphery are yet to resume normal production. The worst sufferer is the independent power producer (IPP) GMR Kamalanga power station. Of its three 350 MW units, only one is running with a partial load of 100 MW since the strike was launched on July 23. If the supply of coal by rail or road does not improve soon, the power plant may have to be shut down, said an official.
He said the plant is said to be critical and the situation has not improved even as four days have passed since the agitation at Talcher Coalfields was called off. Similar is the situation at 460 MW Talcher thermal power station. Plant authorities said the unit is receiving 7,000-tonne coal against its daily requirement of 10,000 tonnes. Only two of the six units are functioning at the power plant. The authorities hope another unit will start operating from Sunday morning.
The situation at 3,000 MW NTPC Kaniha too has not improved much with only four out of six 500 MW units functioning. The authorities hope to resume production in another unit in a day or two.
It is getting 35,000-tonne coal as against the requirement of 50,000 tonnes from Kaniha and Lingaraj mines. “We have a stock of 40,000-tonne coal at present. Normalcy in production can be ensured after coal supply is ramped up,” said an NTPC official.
He said the plant is still drawing coal from Ib Valley, Eastern Coalfields and Singareni Coalfields in order to meet its requirements. Another IPP, Jindal India Thermal Power Plant (JITPL), located at Kaniha, too is reeling under acute coal shortage. Meanwhile, coal production at Talcher Coalfields has become normal with daily production of 1.8 lakh tonne. Bharatpur mines, where the mishap took place claiming four lives, however, remains closed.