Federal Power Ministry Directs Over 100 Captive Coal Plants to Run at Full Capacity from October 1

Key facts

• India's federal power ministry has ordered more than 100 captive coal-fired power plants, each with installed capacity of at least 50 megawatts, to operate at maximum capacity from October 1 through year-end to meet an expected rise in electricity demand.
• The order, dated September 25, was invoked under emergency provisions of the Electricity Act, whose Section 11 allows the government under extraordinary circumstances to direct generators to operate power stations according to its instructions.
• The order covers 112 plants belonging to companies including Vedanta, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, Indian Oil, Bharat Aluminium, Hindustan Zinc and Nayara Energy.
• The plants primarily serve industrial facilities such as aluminium smelters, steel manufacturers, cement factories and oil refineries, and the ministry has directed generators to sell surplus electricity through power exchanges.
• Plants must report weekly to the Central Electricity Authority detailing generation, captive consumption, power sales, available capacity and coal stocks.
• Nearly 40% of coal-fired plants are operating with critically low fuel stock due to a surge in power demand as the El Nino climate phenomenon raises temperatures more than usual.
• The ministry separately extended an earlier emergency order requiring Tata Power's imported coal-fired plant in Mundra, Gujarat, to operate at full capacity until December 31.