The Ministry of Power has declared that imported coal can be used till October 15 by the thermal plants to operate on full capacity. The latest move is aligned to avoid the electricity shortage in the country as per the recent notification.
Tata Power and Adani Power’s plants at Mundra in Gujarat, Essar power plant in Salaya, JSW Ratnagiri, Tata Trombay, Udupi Power, Meenakshi Energy, and JSW Torangallu are among the 15 imported coal-based (ICB) power plants who received notification form the ministry.
The ministry has projected a power demand of 260 GW during the peak summer season between April to June due to heat waves. The peak power demand was all time higher in September 2023 with 243 GW.
“It has now been decided to extend the time period for Section 11 directive to generating companies having imported coal-based plants, up to October 15, 2024,” the power ministry notified 15 imported coal-based thermal power projects on April 12.
Previous deadlines
The ministry had earlier extended the deadline in October 2023 for these imported coal-based plants to operate at full capacity from November 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. In February 2023, the ministry had invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act 2003 to avoid any outage due to a sudden rise in power demand. The direction was for three months from March 16 to June 15, 2023, which was extended till September 30, 2023 and later till October 31, 2023.
It is assumed that it will ease the pressure on domestic coal supply and will further ensure that all plants are available during the peak season.
(with inputs from PTI)