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Coal crisis in Kahalgaon STPS may worsen power scenario

Bhagalpur: Facing acute shortage of coal, NTPC’s super thermal power station (STPS) at Kahalgaon may have to shut down a few of its generation units if the scarcity continues for some days, further deepening the power crisis in energy-starved Bihar.

Kahalgaon STPS general manager Vishvanath Mukherjee on Friday said the project with four units of 210 mw each required 18,000 to 19,000 metric tonnes of coal per day against which it was receiving barely 13,000 to 14,000 metric tonnes from Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL).

“We are using our reserve stocks which would become empty in another couple of days if the coal supply does not improve,” he said.

The project was receiving two railway rakes of coal from Lalmatia coal mines and as many from Asansol, but it badly needed at least one more rake every day.

Additional general manager (operation and maintenance) of the project I. Dutta said NTPC chairman-cum-managing director T. Shankerlingam was in regular touch with the Railways and Coal India Limited authorities for improving the situation.

ECL sources said coal reserves in its old mines were on the verge of being exhausted leading to a drop in production and unless human habitations at Kendua, Goraichak, Superbhitta and Hurasi villages were shifted elsewhere mining at new sites was not possible.

Bihar Energy Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav had on Thursday written a letter to Union Minister for Power S.K. Shinde deprecating Centre’s decision allotting an additional 40 MW of electricity to Jharkhand from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh ignoring Bihar’s claim.

In his letter, Mr. Yadav had accused the Centre of discriminating against Bihar and advised him against “doing politics” over the issue.

Mr. Yadav had lamented that despite Chief Minister Nitish Kumar meeting prime minister Manmohan Singh twice to seek additional 300 MW of power, Jharkhand, which has an installed generation capacity of 1300 MW, was given preference over Bihar.

The minister said against the allocation of 1,170 MW from the Central pool, Bihar was getting just 600 MW to 650 MW despite being “totally dependent” on the Central pool for power after most thermal power stations went to Jharkhand following the State’s bifurcation in November 2000.

Bihar has been left with the thermal power station at Kanti in Muzaffarpur, which is closed, and the power plant at Barauni where just one unit is operating on a trial basis after renovation.

He had also mentioned coal shortage at Kahalgaon and Farakka thermal power stations as a major reason for the plummeting power supply.

“The step-motherly treatment to Bihar may force the farmers to take the extreme step (suicide), like their counterparts in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh as there is no power to water their fields,” he had cautioned. -- PTI

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