Despite having more than 70 % of available coal reserves in the eastern region, come February the state might face severe power shortage and frequent power cuts due to the problem of coal shortage which might cause havoc to the domestic power utilities and even compel some units to shut down production.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Energy, East & North East 2009, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Mrinal Banerjee, minister of state for power and non-conventional energy sources, West Bengal, said, "We have at present coal requirement of 55,000 tons per day of which we get around 35,000-40,000 tons. We face a shortage of 15,000-20,000 tons per day which will worsen with the capacity additions of WBPDCL and DPL. From February onwards West Bengal can face severe power shortage if this coal shortage continues."

WBPDCL and DPL will be adding 1,570 MW to its present generation capacity which will be further enhanced to 3,500 MW under the 12-plan period. But coal shortage, which the union minister of state for coal negated, might cause closure of units.
"Because of shortage of coals, some of the units of these power utilities will be forced to shut its operations," said Banerjee.

In 2005-06 average coal consumption per unit of power generation in WBPDCL was 650 grams which increased to 900 grams by 2008. Cost of coal per unit of power generated was thus Rs 1.26 in 2005-06 which have increased to Rs 1.42 in 2008. This apart the due to overall deterioration of coal quality, productivity has also come down.
There is approximately 250 bn tons of coal reserve in the country of which 150 mm ton is extractible and 300 mm tons of coal is produced per annum. If the coal production is increased to 600 mm tpy then it will be possible to meet the country's coal requirement for some years.

"Power generation from imported coal is not a viable option since transaction cost and electricity tariff will go up," he said.
S. Mahapatra, managing director of WBPDCL, said, "WBPDCL at present has a requirement of 55,000 tons of coal per day and gets only 40,000 tons, facing a shortage of 15,000 tons per day."

The situation might worsen with the other production units coming onstream, one in Santaldihi and two in Kolaghat which were under maintenance and will start operations soon.
The power utility needs 12 rakes per month, from February-April onwards with the fifth unit at Bakreshwar and Kolaghat units coming into operations, the company will need 18 rakes to meet the fuel demand for increased production.

Source: http://business-standard.com