86 power plants have 25 pc less coal stocks than normative levels: CEA report
New Delhi (PTI): As many as 86 thermal power plants in the country, including six imported dry fuel-based, had critical coal stock levels as of October 18, according to a Central Electricity Authority (CEA) report.
The power plants are labelled as having a critical coal stock situation, where the dry fuel is less than 25 per cent of the normative level.
According to the daily coal report of the CEA for October 18, 2023, as many as 86 thermal power plants were having critical coal stock situations out of the monitored 181 in the country.
There were six imported coal-based plants out of these 86 plants.
CEA monitors 181 coal-based thermal power plants in the country with a total installed generation capacity of 206 GW.
As per the report, 148 non-pithead domestic coal-based power plants with a total capacity of about 149 GW had 29 per cent less dry fuel stocks than the normative (or ideal) levels.
These 148 plants had about 12.77 million tonnes of coal against the normative level of 43.53 million tonnes as of October 18, 2023.
However, the situation was better at 18 domestic pithead plants where dry fuel stock was 81 per cent of the normative levels.
These 18 plants have a total power generation capacity of about 40 GW.
The experts are of the view that generally the dry fuel stock situation is not often critical at pithead plants as these are located near coal mines.
The non-pithead plants are those where the dry fuel is transported from far-flung places where coal mines are located.
The overall dry fuel stock situation was also better at 15 imported coal-based power plants monitored by the CEA, where stocks were 52 per cent of the normative levels.
These 15 imported coal-based plants have a total generation capacity of 17 GW.
The report showed that these 181 power plants with a total capacity of about 206 GW had coal stocks of 20.43 million tonnes (38 per cent of the ideal level) against the normative level of 54.31 million tonnes.
The report also showed that the daily fuel requirement of these 181 plants is 2.8 million tonnes.
Thus, they have coal stocks to last a little over seven days as of October 18, 2023.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
