NEW DELHI | Dec 01, 2016: The government has restricted coal production from Reliance Power’s Moher and Moher Amlohri extension blocks attached to the Sasan ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Madhya Pradesh.
Asenior government official said the coal ministry has decided to restrict production from the two coal blocks to 16 million tonne per annum (mtpa) depending on the base requirement of the project. The coal production could be allowed to be raised to up to 17 mtpa in case the plant load factor of the project rises beyond 100%, he said.
In response to an emailed query, a Reliance Power spokesperson said with the curtailment, Sasan UMPP may have to restrict power generation at around 80% level.
“Considering prevailing exchange prices of the order of Rs 2.50 per unit, incremental cost of procuring 10% to 15% capacity of Sasan UMPP from open market will be Rs 400 crore to Rs 600 crore per annum. Over the remaining PPA life, this will be Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore,” the spokesperson said.
The coal ministry had in May last year directed Sasan UMPP to limit annual coal production to 16 mtpa from 20 mtpa approved earlier and cancelled a third mine — Chhatrasal —attached to the project, terming it to be surplus. Reliance Power’s subsidiary Sasan Power had filed a writ petition in July last year in the Delhi High Court against the decision.
The high court had asked the coal ministry to decide on the company's demand to let it produce 19 million tonne from the two mines. As interim relief, the coal ministry had allowed the company to mine 17.2 mtpa till March 31this year. The case pertaining to the cancellation of Chhatrasal is pending with the high court. The matter is set for hearing on December 9.
The company spokesperson said all procurers of Sasan UMPP have written to the coal ministry to permit the project to mine as much coal needed to operate the plant at maximum capacity. “While PPA obligation is to ensure minimum availability of 80% PLF, given the competitive nature of power, our intent is to make the plant available at the levels of 96%, which in turn requires higher quantum of coal,” he said.
The government’s decision to cancel the coal block is in line with the Supreme Court's directive forbidding commercial use of surplus coal from such units for other plants.
The Supreme Court, which cancelled 204 captive coal mines allocated to various companies, had ruled on August 25 last year that "coal blocks allocated for UMPP would only be used for UMPP and no diversion of coal for commercial exploitation would be permitted”. In its gazette notification, the coal ministry had withdrawn the special dispensation to Reliance Power, restricting production of coal from Moher and Moher Amlohri.
The previous UPA government had in 2010 as special dispensation to Reliance Power allowed diversion of excess coal from coal blocks attached to Sasan UMPP to an adjacent group project in Chitrangi. The company had sought the dispensation saying it will be able to mine 20 mtpa of coal from Moher and Moher Amlohri coal blocks and 5 mtpa from Chhatrasal mine through use of latest mining technologies. The total 25 mtpa was 9 million tonne more than the UMPP's requirement.
(Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/)