Bokaro: Continuous rain has disrupted coal supplies to four coal-based thermal power plants in Bokaro district, forcing them to operate on limited or emergency stocks and raising concerns over power generation.Bokaro Power Supply Company Ltd (BPSCL), jointly run by SAIL and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), and Tenughat Thermal Power Station (TTPS) have coal stocks for only about five days. Supplies that earlier arrived daily are now reaching the plants once every two to three days, affecting generation and contributing to power cuts in Bokaro and other parts of the state.DVC’s Bokaro Thermal Power Station (BTPS) and Chandrapura Thermal Power Station (CTPS) are also operating with limited stocks. All four plants primarily receive coal from Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL), while BPSCL also gets supplies from Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL). Most of the supplying mines are located in the rain-hit coal belts of Bokaro, Ramgarh and Dhanbad.TTPS, operated by the state-owned TVNL, supplies all its power to Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (JUVNL), serving Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and other areas. The plant has around 30,000 tonnes of coal, enough for four to five days.Its two operational units, with a combined capacity of 420 MW, are generating only around 25 MW. The plant is receiving one railway rake carrying about 3,200 tonnes of coal daily, against its requirement of nearly 7,000 tonnes, or two rakes, to run both units at full capacity.“We are operating on emergency stock as the coal accumulated earlier has been consumed after supplies remained affected for more than a month,” TTPS managing director Anil Kumar Sharma said.At BPSCL, generation has fallen from 200 MW to around 170 MW. The plant has 20,000 tonnes of coal, enough for five to six days. BSL spokesperson Manikant Dhan said coal supplies had been affected by the rain.BTPS has nearly 40,000 tonnes, sufficient for about seven days, while supplies have fallen from three rakes a day to two. CTPS is facing a similar shortage.
