Higher power demand necessitated coal imports
Electricity demand has gone up exponentially because of the economic growth post pandemic, says Power Minister RK Singh
image for illustrative purpose
New Delhi: Addition of 28.6 million consumers under the Saubhagya scheme, good infrastructure and perked up economic activities post Covid-19 pushed up power demand and necessitated coal import, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Power Minister RK Singh said electricity demand has gone up exponentially because of the economic growth post pandemic, the addition of 28.6 million consumers under the Saubhagya scheme and strengthening of the transmission and distribution system, which necessitated coal imports. He pointed out that the domestic coal production has increased.
The all-India coal production (for all categories of consumers) in 2021-22 was 778.19 million tonne (MT) in comparison to 716.083 MT in 2020-21. In current financial year (up to June 2022), the country produced 204.876 MT coal as compared to 156.11 MT during the same period last year, he stated. Considering high demand of domestic coal in thermal power plants and the level of coal stocks in the plants, Ministry of Power on April 28, 2022 issued advisory to generating companies to import coal for blending at the rate of 10 per cent of their requirement. This would ensure availability of adequate stock in the power plants to cater to their demand during monsoon when the domestic supply of coal reduces.
The minister explained that coal is being imported for blending for the past many years because of its high calorific value. In 2018-19, it was 21.4 MT and went up to 29.8 MT in 2019-20. The government had advised gencos to reduce imports and rely more on domestic coal, and the import for blending declined to 8.3 MT in 2021-22. During April 2022, the consumption of domestic coal was 65.5 MT against 59.1 MT during April 2021, registering a growth of about 11 per cent, Singh informed the House.
Further, the requirement of domestic coal during April-June 2022 was projected to be about 20 per cent more than the same period last year, he stated. In another reply to the House on Tuesday, Singh said that at present, the peak demand for power in the country is 2,12,646 MW, against which there is an available installed generation capacity of 4,03,759.59 MW, as of June 2022. This installed capacity is more than sufficient to meet the peak demand of the country, he stated. He also told the House that 39 thermal power projects with a combined total capacity of 27,550 MW are proposed for commissioning till 2026-27.
Besides, 36 hydro electric projects with a combined total capacity of 14,103.5 MW are in various stages of construction, he stated. He also informed the House that till May this fiscal year, the power supply was for 23.78 hours in urban areas and 21.48 hours in rural areas. In another reply to the House, he said the coal-based generation increased from 256.7 billion units during April-June 2021-22 to 307.9 billion units during April-June 2022-23, registering a growth of about 20 per cent.
He said that the SLNP (street light national programme) so far is estimated to have resulted in annual saving of 8.5 billion units equivalent to Rs 6,800 crore. As per the studies being carried out by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for demand estimation for 2031-32, the provisional requirement of 69 billion units for electric vehicles has been considered, he stated.
