Govt asks 15 thermal plants to utilise full capacity from Mar 16 to Jun 15
NEW DELHI: In a bid to meet power demand in peak summer, the power ministry has mandated all imported coal-based thermal plants to function at full capacity in summer. The ministry, in a notice to 15 thermal plants that use imported coal said this order will be valid from March 16 to June 15, 2023. “It has been forecasted that peak demand will reach 229GW during April 2023. To meet this demand, about 193 GW generation would be required from thermal generating stations,” reads the notice.
These 15 power plants include Tata Power’s and Adani Power’s plants in Mundra in Gujarat; Essar power plant in Salaya; JSW Ratnagiri; Tata Trombay; Udupi Power; Meenakshi Energy; and JSW Torangallu. This year, the power ministry expects the power demand to touch 230 GW in 2023. The power secretary Alok Kumar had said that the government will take all possible measures to meet the 230 gigawatt (GW) single-day peak demand expected in April 2023.
The ministry invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act, which mandates power plants to open and generate electricity at their full capacity, last year in May 2022 too. Most of these imported coal-based thermal power plants were shut at that time due to high global coal prices and increased cost of power generation. However, following this mandate, these plants had to start their operation.