(ET)
Coal stocks depleting. An unusually searing summer. Power demand soaring. It’s situation critical for Madhya Pradesh’s electricity network. The three thermal plants in MP have stocks to last barely 1.5 to 3.5 days.
Already, we have had the first official loadshedding of the season. On April 21, when peak demand crossed 11,476 MW, there were power cuts to bridge the 83MW shortfall, official records say.
According to the April 21 report of the central electricity authority, coal stock is at ‘critical level’ at three of these power stations. The ‘minimum requirement’ at Sanjay Gandhi, Satpura and Shri Singaji power stations is coal storage of at least 26 days. ‘Critical stage’ is when coal stocks drop to less than 25 per cent of this.
