A Central Electricity Authority (CEA) report reveals that as of October 18, 2023, 86 thermal power plants in India are facing a critical coal stock situation, with coal levels falling below 25 percent of the normative level. These power plants include six imported coal-based facilities out of a total of 181 monitored by the CEA.

The CEA oversees 181 coal-based thermal power plants in India with a combined installed generation capacity of 206 GW. Of these, 148 non-pithead domestic coal-based power plants, totaling about 149 GW in capacity, have 29 percent less dry fuel stocks than normative levels. This means they held about 12.77 million tonnes of coal as of October 18, 2023, compared to the normative level of 43.53 million tonnes.

In contrast, the situation was better for the 18 domestic pithead plants, where dry fuel stock was at 81 percent of the normative levels. These 18 plants have a total power generation capacity of about 40 GW. Generally, pithead plants enjoy a more favorable stock situation as they are located near coal mines. Non-pithead plants, on the other hand, need to transport coal from distant mines.

For 15 imported coal-based power plants monitored by the CEA, the overall dry fuel stock situation was better, with stocks at 52 percent of the normative levels. These 15 imported coal-based plants have a total generation capacity of 17 GW.

In total, the 181 power plants, with a combined capacity of about 206 GW, had coal stocks of 20.43 million tonnes, which is 38 percent of the ideal level. The normative level is set at 54.31 million tonnes. The report also indicates that the daily fuel requirement for these 181 plants is 2.8 million tonnes. Therefore, as of October 18, 2023, they had enough coal stocks to last slightly over seven days.