New Delhi:
Amidst the deepening crisis of coal shortage, the Delhi government has said that the important establishments of the capital, including metro trains and hospitals, cannot be provided uninterrupted power supply.
Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain held an emergency meeting to assess the situation and wrote to the Center requesting it to ensure the availability of sufficient coal to power plants supplying power to the national capital.
“Due to disruption in power supply from Dadri-II and Unchahar power stations, 24 hours power supply to many essential institutions including Delhi Metro and Delhi government hospitals may be affected,” a government statement said.
“At present, 25-30 per cent of the electricity demand in Delhi is being met through these power stations, and they are facing shortage of coal,” Jain said, adding that the government is closely following the situation. and is making every effort to ensure that people do not face power outages in some areas of the capital.
“These power stations play a vital role in preventing blackouts in some parts of Delhi and are also essential for ensuring continuous supply of electricity to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, hospitals and people during the upcoming summer season,” the minister said.
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)’s Dadri-II and Jhajjar (Aravalli) were established primarily to meet the power requirement in Delhi. However, even these power plants have very little stock of coal.
The Dadri-II, Unchahar, Kahalgaon, Farakka and Jhajjar power plants supply 1,751 megawatts (MW) of electricity per day to Delhi. The maximum supply of 728 MW to the Rajdhani comes from Dadri-II power station, while 100 MW from Unchahar station.
According to the daily coal report of the National Power Portal, all these power plants are facing acute shortage of coal. With the scorching heat, blackouts have started in many parts of the country as states struggle to manage record demand for electricity.
Apart from measures to increase supply of coal to power plants, the central government has asked states to increase their imports for the next three years to build inventory. The All India Power Engineers Federation said that thermal plants across the country are facing coal shortage, indicating power crisis in the country.
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