NTPC cuts back on coal imports by 90%

It aims to follow the target for zero thermal coal imports.

As India aims to have zero thermal coal imports, majority state-owned utility NTPC said it had already reduced more than 90% imports of expensive coal.

In FY2018-2019, the share of domestic coal in overall usage has hit 175.14 million tonnes whilst imported coal has only been at 1.05 million tonnes. The drastic shift began in FY2016-2017, in which domestic took up 159.42 million tonnes whilst imported took up 1.02 million tonnes.

In an analysis by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), research analyst Kashish Shah said, “By vertically integrating its business to rely on its own coal mining capacity, the company has experienced lower coal transportation costs, whilst the proposed blending of its supply of thermal power with cheaper renewable energy power has been one of the key contributing factors for NTPC’s profitability.”

“Whilst the company continues to rely almost entirely on domestic thermal coal, its healthy pivot towards renewables and its proactive approach on emission control implementation will not only benefit the country in curbing air pollution, but it will also deliver economic benefits going forward for its thermal assets,” said Shah.

NTPC’s long-term target of generating some 40GW of renewable energy (30% of its total planned capacity of 130GW) by 2032 reinforced with the company’s announcement of a 5GW of ultra-mega solar park for Kutch, Gujarat.