Given the excessive coal stock available with Coal India (CIL), the ministry of coal has approved the company’s plan to supply 100 per cent of the normative requirement to thermal power units.
The ministry has recommended increasing the ‘annual contracted quantity’ (ACQ) of coal to 100 per cent of the normative requirement of a non-coastal plant. It was 90 per cent earlier. For coastal plants, the ACQ has been increased to 70 per cent.
Normative requirement is the coal demand of a thermal power station based on its capacity, heat rate, boiler specifications and subsequent coal usage. Normative requirements are different for every station.
