'Running at full capacity...': NTPC dismisses coal shortage claims

NTPC Limited on Friday said Dadri and Unchahar power plants are running at full capacity.

Dismissing the Delhi government's claims of a shortage of coal at its plants, the NTPC Limited on Friday said Dadri and Unchahar power plants are running at full capacity and receiving regular coal supplies.This comes a day after the Delhi government claimed that very little stock of coal was left in power plants. "Currently Unchahar and Dadri stations are declaring more than 100 per cent rated capacity to the grid. All units of Unchahar and Dadri are running at full load except Unchahar Unit 1, which is under annual planned overhaul," the NTPC said in a tweet.

It further said that present stock is 140000 MT and 95000 MT respectively and import coal supplies are also in pipeline."All 6 Units of Dadri and 5 Units of Unchahar are running at full capacity and receiving regular coal supplies. Present stock is 140000 MT and 95000 MT respectively and import coal supplies are also in pipeline," it added. Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also claimed that the situation is very grave in the whole of India.

"There is a huge shortage of power in the country. So far we have managed it somehow in Delhi. The situation is very grave in the whole of India. Together we soon need to find a solution. Quick, concrete steps are required to tackle this problem," Kejriwal tweeted.

On Thursday, the Delhi government expressed its concern over the possible shortage of coal in power plants that supply electricity to the national capital and has written a letter to the Central Government urging it to ensure adequate coal supply.As per the Delhi government, in NTPC`s Dadri-II power plant, only a day`s worth of stock is left and in Jhajjar (Aravalli), only 7-8 days` worth of stock is left. The Dadri-II, Unchahar, Kahalgaon, Farakka and Jhajjar power plants in Delhi supply 1751 MW of electricity per day.

"At present, there is a shortage of coal in various thermal stations supplying electricity. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)`s Dadri-II and Jhajjar (Aravalli), both power plants were established primarily to meet the power requirement in Delhi.

However, there is very little stock of coal left even in these power plants," Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain said.As per Delhi government data, the Unchahar power plant has two days` worth of stock left, Kahalgaon has 3.5 days` worth of stock left and Farakka has five days` worth of stock left.For the first time in April, Delhi`s peak power demand clocked 6000 megawatts (MW) as the unabated heatwave continues to push the power demand to newer highs.On Wednesday, the power demand was 5786 MW and it has increased by around 3.7 per cent in just 24 hours.

Peak power demand in the BRPL area of South and West Delhi today clocked 2549 MW and 1375 MW in the BYPL area of East and Central Delhi, as per the data by the discoms.