Out of coal, Goindwal Sahib power plant shuts

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 10

Punjab continued to be on the edge today, with yet another thermal power unit at GvK-operated Goindwal Sahib plant in Tarn Taran being forced to shut because of coal shortage.

This is the sixth thermal power unit that has been forced to shut down in the past few days. Four thermal units were shut because of severe shortage of coal yesterday, but one was operationalised in the evening. Two units of Ropar (having generation capacity of 420 MW) have been shut down because of technical snags.

This again resulted in three to four hours of power cut across the state. As coal shortage continued, the thermal power plants in the state have either been forced to shut generation, or some are operating at less than their optimum capacity to save on their depleting coal stocks.

With one more unit at GvK plant being shut, the state’s own thermal power generation fell by over 1,500 MW. The demand for power in the state is 8,300 MW. As a result, the state was again forced to buy additional power from the power exchange (285 lakh units at Rs 11.60 per unit).

PSPCL chairman A Venu Prasad said the situation would begin to ease out around October 15. “We have got more coal linkages today and it will take two to three days for the coal to reach the power plants,” he added.

Generation falls by 1,500 MW

• The state’s own thermal power generation has now fallen by over 1,500 MW
• The current demand for power in the state is 8,300 MW
• As a result, the state has again bought additional electricity from the power exchange (285 lakh units at Rs11.60 per unit)