The power situation in Tamil Nadu state seems precarious as the four thermal power stations in the State have less than four days of coal stocks left with Coal India failing to supply the promised quantities.
The Ennore, North Chennai, Tuticorin and Mettur thermal power plants, which have a combined generation capacity of 2970 MW, need 47,800 tonnes of coal a day to operate.
With coal stocks only enough to tide them over for four days, as against the mandatory 30 days, they are inching towards a super critical state.
TNEB officials, however, claim there’s no problem with power production for the moment.
"As of now, all the four stations are running to their full capacity. So far, we have not lost a single unit because of coal shortage," a senior TNEB official said.
The board has pinned its hopes on a shipment of 1.10 lakh tonnes of coal from Indonesia which is waiting to berth at the Tuticorin port for unloading, and another shipment of 45,000 tonnes of coal from Talcher in Orissa, which is expected to reach it in a day.
The present shortage of coal has been caused by floods in the Talcher coalfields and workers strike at the Singareni coal mine in support of the Telangana agitation.
The four stations that require 16 million tonnes of coal per annum (MTPA) depend on Coal India for 13.5 MTPA and import the remaining 1.8 MTPA.
The shortfall in Coal India’s supply is therefore proving a huge blow to their operations.