The Ministry of Power (MoP)has directed the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to determine the eligible quantity of domestic coal for the power plants using coal under Shakti B(viii) (a) taking into account 10 per cent imported coal for blending which is equivalent to about 15 per cent of domestic coal in energy terms.
Shakti B (viii) (a) is the window for power plants having untied capacity to bid for coal, to generate power using this coal and sell it in the exchange under day ahead market or the Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price (DEEP) portal for short term power purchase agreement. For such plants, the ministry has directed CEA to compute the quantity of coal consumed (procured under SHAKTI B (viii) (a) window) on the basis of mandatory blending of 10 per cent by weight for generation during the period starting from June 15, 2022 upto March 31, 2023. This will give a window of about three weeks for these plants to procure imported coal.