Telangana strike takes a toll on two NTPC power plants

NTPC's Ramagundam and Simhadri power plants are getting considerably impacted due to the ongoing strike in the Singareni Collieries coal mines, said sources. This strike has brought the company’s production almost to a standstill, sources added.

Speaking exclusively to Bloomberg UTV, sources said that currently the 2600 megawatt Ramagundam power plant may be operating at 50% capacity, which means generating around 1300-1400 megawatt of power. On the other hand, the 1500 Megawatt Simhadri plant may be seeing a shortfall of around 300 megawatt in power production.

However, NTPC in its response said that Ramagundam station is currently generating around 2080 megawatt while Simhadri plant is generating 1200 megawatt. NTPC also said that because of the dearth of adequate fuel supply from Singareni, the company is sourcing coal from other locations, primarily Mahanadi Coal fields and IB Valley. It is also using imported coal to negate the impact of the blockade.

Singareni Collieries has seven coal mines all located in the Telangana region, and it generally produces 1.5 lakh tonne of coal per day. But currently, sources reveal, SCCL is being able to produce 30% of its total output. S Narsing Rao, CMD, SCCL’s said that the company is currently generating 50,000 tonne of coal per day and supplying 15,000-16,000 tonne to NTPC, while the rest is going to AP Generation Corporation. It has stopped supply to all other industries.

NTPC requires 10 lakh tonne of coal every month from Singareni Collieries for the 2100 megawatt first phase of Ramagundam power plant. For the rest 500 megawatt, NTPC is sourcing fuel from Coal India

Regards
M Chandra Prakash