Assam’s electricity distributor aka Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) has notified its natives about the “inevitable” outages and load-shedding in Assam in the thick of coal shortage in power plants across the country.
In a classified ad published in the local newspapers, the APDCL, which emits power all across the state after buying from the national grid, conveyed that power generation at thermal plants has “decreased considerably.”
The Chief General Manager of APDCL in its public message said that “Due to limited coal availability, the generation of power from thermal generating stations has decreased considerably.
The power position is clearly at a critical level and power outages/load shedding may be inevitable. Kindly bear with us and use electricity judiciously. Energy saved is energy generated. Inconvenience caused is highly regretted.”
The state of Assam has a conventional requirement of 1,950 megawatts or MW, but during the occasion of Durga Puja, it goes up to 2,200 MW, so there is a shortfall of some 300 MW since NTPC Ltd coal-based power plant in Kokrajhar district supplies only 150 MW.
As per the reports obtained by NDTV, a power official mentioned, “This ad was issued as a precautionary measure. We are trying to meet the shortfall of about 250 MW from other sources.”
Amid concerns of blackouts due to coal shortages in power stations, APDCL disseminated its message through the classified ad.
Meanwhile, the central government has assured that India has ample coal stocks to meet the demand of its power plants, seeking to reduce the terror of impending load shedding in Delhi and subsequent cities.
However, the government has conveyed that there are mainly four reasons for the depletion of coal stocks which are unmatched rise in demand for electricity due to re-establishment of the economy, heavy rains in coal mine areas, increase in the price of imported coal, and legacy issues such as heavy dues of coal companies in certain states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh respectively.
Today, on Monday, October 11, Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with his cabinet colleagues who are in charge of the coal and power ministries.
It was an hour-long meeting and the three ministers were believed to have discussed the availability of coal to power plants and the current power demands.
