Coal from Australia, Indonesia get more expensive
Tuesday, Dec6, 2011
The Power Ministry is pushing for abolition of Customs duty on imported coal.
The Ministry, senior officials said, is trying to garner the support of the Planning Commission on the issue, which is expected to be countered by the Finance Ministry in light of the revenue implications.
On Tuesday, speaking at an industry conference, the Power Minister, Mr Sushilkumar Shinde, hinted at the measures being considered following the increase in imported coal prices.
“The Government will initiate some corrective measures to reduce the burden on the consumers resulting from the increased price of imported coal,” he said.
Power project developers setting up units that are to run on imported coal, including two upcoming Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP), have raised concerns about the hike in prices of imported coal from countries such as Indonesia and Australia.
Currently, a five per cent basic Customs duty is levied on imported coal. Key coal exporting countries such as Indonesia and Australia have changed their coal pricing methodology in recent months, leading to international coal prices skyrocketing.
Seeking legal opinion
Responding to a query on the legal issues related to the pit-head-based Sasan UMPP, where the issue of diversion of coal to other projects by the developer had forced the Ministry to seek the Attorney-General's opinion, Mr Shinde said: “Some problems have come up; we pointed them out to the Empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM)... On that, we are seeking legal opinion.”
In a meeting late last night, the eGoM, headed by the Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee, had asked the Power Ministry to seek the Attorney-General's opinion on the 4,000-MW Sasan UMPP.
The panel is also believed to have discussed the progress of the Mundra UMPP in Gujarat, Krishnapatnam UMPP (Andhra Pradesh) and the Tilaiya UMPP in Jharkhand.
Keywords: Power Ministry, coal import duty, Planning Commission, Mundra UMPP, Krishnapatnam UMPP, customs duty on import coal,
Sourced Business Line
Showing posts with label Indonesia imported coal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indonesia imported coal. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
NTPC may fall short by 18 billion units in FY12
Production cut as state electricity boards shun costlier power being generated due to use of expensive imported coal
Tue, Oct25, 2011
New Delhi: NTPC Ltd, India’s largest power generator, may fall around 18 billion units short of its potential production capacity in the current fiscal, as state electricity boards (SEBs) shun purchases of expensive electricity produced with imported coal.
The company is bracing for the production shortfall, equivalent to nearly half of Delhi’s annual power consumption, at a time when India is battling a power deficit.
The expected shortfall in power generation by the state-owned utility is a 38% rise over the last fiscal, when it fell short of its generating capacity by 13 billion units.
With the supply of domestic coal at a low, NTPC has to burn imported coal that is increasing the cost of power. SEBs’ aversion to buying expensive power has already resulted in NTPC reducing its power generation in the current fiscal to the tune of 7 billion units, which is now expected to more than double.
“Since we have adequate amount of imported coal, we are ready to supply power generated from that coal, but the SEBs are unwilling to buy expensive power, leading to our stations backing down,” said a senior NTPC executive on condition of anonymity.
India has an annual electricity requirement of 700 billion units, of which around 220 billion units is supplied by NTPC.
Cutting the power generation will dent revenue at NTPC but not its profit, because state utilities have to pay a fixed amount to the power producer even if they do not draw any electricity. The variable payment to NTPC includes the cost of fuel to generate the power. NTPC posted a net profit of Rs. 6,011 crore on revenue of Rs. 43,337 crore in the year ended 31 March.
A spokesperson for NTPC said it’s difficult at this stage for the utility to comment on production for the year.
“The increase in variable price is largely due to increase in imported coal use,” the NTPC spokesperson said.
NTPC needs 166 million tonnes (mt) of coal in the year to 31 March, of which around 16 mt has to be imported. The company has already placed orders for importing 12 mt.
While electricity tariffs at NTPC’s stations differ from project to project, the average tariff per unit of electricity charged by the utility is around Rs. 2.63. Of this, the fixed cost is Rs. 1 per unit, with the balance being the fuel cost.
“While imported coal is expensive, even the price of domestic coal has gone up and states don’t want to buy expensive power,” said a second NTPC executive, who too didn’t want to be named. “A 10% increase in blending imported coal leads to a tariff increase of 30-35 paise per unit.”
SEBs across India are saddled with losses because of power theft during transmission and distribution, billing inefficiencies and, more importantly, because they have to buy expensive power to tide over short-term deficits.
The “situation will only improve for utilities like NTPC once the SEB finances improve”, said a senior power ministry official, requesting anonymity.
India is battling a power deficit because of coal shortages on account of faltering local production.
In what could be the worst case of coal shortage faced by India’s power sector, 41 thermal projects have less than a week’s coal reserves to support power generation and 28 projects have less than four days’ stock.
Power projects situated near coal mines are supposed to have a reserve of two weeks while those located far from the mines should have at least a month’s supply in reserve. India has 75 thermal power projects that depend on Coal India Ltd for fuel supplies.
“At the end of the day, we are not getting the required amount of domestic coal,” said a third NTPC executive, also requesting anonymity. “That results in us having to forego revenue as we generate less than what we are capable of.”
NTPC, which generates 8 megawatts (MW) of every 10MW it produces by burning coal, is looking to increase installed capacity from 34,854MW now to 75,000MW by 2017 and 128,000MW by 2032.
Coal India has an 82% share of the country’s coal production, but has been unable to keep pace with rising demand. It is to supply NTPC 145 mt in the current fiscal year.
sourced livemint
Tue, Oct25, 2011
New Delhi: NTPC Ltd, India’s largest power generator, may fall around 18 billion units short of its potential production capacity in the current fiscal, as state electricity boards (SEBs) shun purchases of expensive electricity produced with imported coal.
The company is bracing for the production shortfall, equivalent to nearly half of Delhi’s annual power consumption, at a time when India is battling a power deficit.
The expected shortfall in power generation by the state-owned utility is a 38% rise over the last fiscal, when it fell short of its generating capacity by 13 billion units.
With the supply of domestic coal at a low, NTPC has to burn imported coal that is increasing the cost of power. SEBs’ aversion to buying expensive power has already resulted in NTPC reducing its power generation in the current fiscal to the tune of 7 billion units, which is now expected to more than double.
“Since we have adequate amount of imported coal, we are ready to supply power generated from that coal, but the SEBs are unwilling to buy expensive power, leading to our stations backing down,” said a senior NTPC executive on condition of anonymity.
India has an annual electricity requirement of 700 billion units, of which around 220 billion units is supplied by NTPC.
Cutting the power generation will dent revenue at NTPC but not its profit, because state utilities have to pay a fixed amount to the power producer even if they do not draw any electricity. The variable payment to NTPC includes the cost of fuel to generate the power. NTPC posted a net profit of Rs. 6,011 crore on revenue of Rs. 43,337 crore in the year ended 31 March.
A spokesperson for NTPC said it’s difficult at this stage for the utility to comment on production for the year.
“The increase in variable price is largely due to increase in imported coal use,” the NTPC spokesperson said.
NTPC needs 166 million tonnes (mt) of coal in the year to 31 March, of which around 16 mt has to be imported. The company has already placed orders for importing 12 mt.
While electricity tariffs at NTPC’s stations differ from project to project, the average tariff per unit of electricity charged by the utility is around Rs. 2.63. Of this, the fixed cost is Rs. 1 per unit, with the balance being the fuel cost.
“While imported coal is expensive, even the price of domestic coal has gone up and states don’t want to buy expensive power,” said a second NTPC executive, who too didn’t want to be named. “A 10% increase in blending imported coal leads to a tariff increase of 30-35 paise per unit.”
SEBs across India are saddled with losses because of power theft during transmission and distribution, billing inefficiencies and, more importantly, because they have to buy expensive power to tide over short-term deficits.
The “situation will only improve for utilities like NTPC once the SEB finances improve”, said a senior power ministry official, requesting anonymity.
India is battling a power deficit because of coal shortages on account of faltering local production.
In what could be the worst case of coal shortage faced by India’s power sector, 41 thermal projects have less than a week’s coal reserves to support power generation and 28 projects have less than four days’ stock.
Power projects situated near coal mines are supposed to have a reserve of two weeks while those located far from the mines should have at least a month’s supply in reserve. India has 75 thermal power projects that depend on Coal India Ltd for fuel supplies.
“At the end of the day, we are not getting the required amount of domestic coal,” said a third NTPC executive, also requesting anonymity. “That results in us having to forego revenue as we generate less than what we are capable of.”
NTPC, which generates 8 megawatts (MW) of every 10MW it produces by burning coal, is looking to increase installed capacity from 34,854MW now to 75,000MW by 2017 and 128,000MW by 2032.
Coal India has an 82% share of the country’s coal production, but has been unable to keep pace with rising demand. It is to supply NTPC 145 mt in the current fiscal year.
sourced livemint
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Karnataka state will buy 1 million tonnes of imported coal
Sat,Oct15,2011
BANGALORE: Finally, the state has come up with a contingency plan to overcome hurdles in power generation due to coal shortage. It has placed orders to buy 1 million tonnes of imported coal from domestic sources to run its two major thermal power stations in north Karnataka.
"Though we cannot run our thermal plants purely on imported coal, we have decided to blend imported and domestic coal (20:80 ratio)," Karnataka Power Corporation (KPC) managing director Yogendra Tripathi said. Tripathi said the state government is buying imported coal from an Indian company ( Gupta Coal India Ltd) at Rs 5,700 per tonne, that's approximately Rs 570 crore for 1 million tonnes.Officials said use of imported coal will raise generation cost by more than Re 1 per unit.
Energy minister Shobha Karandlaje said the government is also looking at importing coal from Australia or Indonesia. "Our officials are trying to obtain a coal mining lease if it's available,'' she said in New Delhi on Wednesday.
(sourced TOI)
BANGALORE: Finally, the state has come up with a contingency plan to overcome hurdles in power generation due to coal shortage. It has placed orders to buy 1 million tonnes of imported coal from domestic sources to run its two major thermal power stations in north Karnataka.
"Though we cannot run our thermal plants purely on imported coal, we have decided to blend imported and domestic coal (20:80 ratio)," Karnataka Power Corporation (KPC) managing director Yogendra Tripathi said. Tripathi said the state government is buying imported coal from an Indian company ( Gupta Coal India Ltd) at Rs 5,700 per tonne, that's approximately Rs 570 crore for 1 million tonnes.Officials said use of imported coal will raise generation cost by more than Re 1 per unit.
Energy minister Shobha Karandlaje said the government is also looking at importing coal from Australia or Indonesia. "Our officials are trying to obtain a coal mining lease if it's available,'' she said in New Delhi on Wednesday.
(sourced TOI)
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Shandong ports coal imports down 9.5 pct in Jan
Feb 25, 2011
Coal imports at ports of Shandong province of East China fell 9.5 percent on year to 2.04 million tonnes in Jan, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Feb 24.
The imports was a slip of 3.1 percent from last month, showed statistics issued by the Qingdao Customs.
Coal imported from Indonesia fell 24.1 percent on year to 504,000 tonnes, from Australia plunged 64.3 percent to 439,000 tonnes, and from the U.S at 409,000 tonnes as compared with no imports in last Jan, showed statistics.
The import price averaged US$142.3 a tonne, a monthly high since July 2008.
Meanwhile, coking coal imported at these ports amounted to 972,000 tonnes, accounting for 47.5 percent of the total imports, and anthracite to 414,000 tonnes.
(sourced:en.sxcoal.com)
Coal imports at ports of Shandong province of East China fell 9.5 percent on year to 2.04 million tonnes in Jan, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Feb 24.
The imports was a slip of 3.1 percent from last month, showed statistics issued by the Qingdao Customs.
Coal imported from Indonesia fell 24.1 percent on year to 504,000 tonnes, from Australia plunged 64.3 percent to 439,000 tonnes, and from the U.S at 409,000 tonnes as compared with no imports in last Jan, showed statistics.
The import price averaged US$142.3 a tonne, a monthly high since July 2008.
Meanwhile, coking coal imported at these ports amounted to 972,000 tonnes, accounting for 47.5 percent of the total imports, and anthracite to 414,000 tonnes.
(sourced:en.sxcoal.com)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
