Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday said an increase in the international price of coal has led to its shortage and reduced power generation but assured that the situation will be "alright" in the next three to four days.
Heavy rainfall in the country this year has also contributed to coal shortage, he told reporters on the sidelines of a book launch.
"However, if you compare with the past many years, coal production and dispatch have been the highest in September and especially in October. In another three to four days, things will be alright," Joshi said.
"The international price of imported coal has increased like anything all of a sudden. Power plants that used imported coals stopped electricity generation. Because they have stopped production, the entire load is on domestic coal," he said.
The minister said he will come out with "full details" of coal availability in the next one to two days.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to intervene and ensure adequate supply of coal to thermal power plants providing electricity to Delhi.
Delhi could face a power crisis due to a shortage of coal at the plants, he said.
Power consumption dipped by nearly 2 per cent or by 72 million units (MU) to 3,828 MU on Saturday compared to 3,900 MU on Friday, showing slight improvement in supply situation across the country amid coal shortage crisis, according to the power ministry data.
According to the data, the power consumption of 3,900 MU on Friday or October 8 was the highest this month so far (from October 1 to 9), which also became cause of concern among the ongoing coal shortage crisis in the country.
On Saturday, Tata Power arm Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (DDL) which operates in North and Northwest Delhi, had sent phone messages to its consumers saying, "Due to limited coal availability in generation plants across the north, power supply scenario between 2-6 pm is at critical level. Kindly use electricity judiciously. Be a responsible citizen. Inconvenience caused is regretted - Tata Power-DDL."
This was the fallout of coal shortage at power plants in a year when the country produced record coal, but rains hit movement of the fuel from mines to power generation units, impacting power generation in many states, including Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.
Another factor that has contributed to the present crisis is power plants that used imported coal to generate electricity, have either curtailed generation or completely stopped as a spurt in international energy prices has made it difficult for them to meet the commitments to states at a particular rate.
The ministry of power in a statement issued on Saturday had said, "It was noted that on 7th October, 2021 total dispatch of coal by Coal India limited (CIL) touched 1.501 MT thereby reducing the gap between consumption and actual supply.
The Ministry of Coal and CIL have assured that they are making best efforts to increase dispatch to the power sector to 1.6 MT per day in the next three days and thereafter try to touch 1.7 MT per day. It is likely to help in gradual build up of coal stocks at power plants in near future. The coal supply as well as consequent power situation is likely to improve."
According to the data, the peak power demand met or the highest electricity supply in day touched 172.41GW on October 8. This is the highest peak power demand met from October 1 to 9.
The data also showed that peak power demand met slowed to 170.03GW on Saturday, October 9, indicating that the power demand is moderating with the onset of autumn.
(With inputs from PTI)
