India staring at a power crisis
Depleting coal stocks have plunged several parts of the country in disarray as the power supply has been severely affected. Coal-fired power plants satisfy around 70 per cent of India’s electricity requirements.
With the festive season at our doorsteps, India is facing a big power crisis. Almost all states are running out of coal at an alarming pace and several of them are at the brink of an electricity blackout.
After COVID-19, air pollution and violence in a few states, India has a new reason to worry. This time, the luxury of an air conditioner or even the necessity to charge smartphones may take a hit.
Energy supplies are under strain globally as prices surge and demand and supply chains are strained by the recovery of consumption following lockdowns to contain the pandemic.
The shortages in India, which is the world’s largest consumer of coal after China, follow widespread outages in neighbouring China, which has shut factories and schools to manage the crisis.
On Wednesday, October 6, the Indian Express newspaper quoted Power Minister RK Singh as saying: “There is nowhere that we have not been able to supply the quantity of power demanded.”
But facts say otherwise. Over half of the country’s 135 coal-fired power plants, which in total supply around 70 per cent of electricity, have fuel stocks of less than three days, data from the federal grid operator showed, as reported by Reuters on October 8.
A Reuters analysis of daily load despatch data from the national grid regulator POSOCO showed India’s power supply deficit in the first seven days of October amounted to 11.2 per cent of the country’s total shortages throughout the year. When compared to the same period last year, the deficit is over 21 times, and more than four times that in 2019.
POSOCO data showed that Jharkhand, Bihar and Rajasthan were among the worst affected. Jharkhand recorded a deficit in the supply of power of 18 to 24 per cent, while Bihar and Rajasthan recorded deficits of 6 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively.
Industrial states such as Gujarat and Haryana also faced more shortages than average during the week, as did some parts of India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh.
Kerala has asked its citizens to restrict the use of electrical appliances such as grinders and dryers after sunset, a senior official in the state’s electricity board said.
Severe coal shortage at thermal power plants in Punjab has forced power utility PSPCL to cut down power generation and impose rotational load shedding at several places.
Rajasthan is resorting to one-hour power cuts daily.
The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) said that power will be suspended in parts of Chennai for carrying out maintenance work in the city.
In Andhra Pradesh, power generation stations operated by APGENCO, which supply about 45 per cent of the state’s energy needs, hardly have coal stocks for one or two days and generation from these could be impacted further.
Tata Power Distribution Ltd (TPDDL), which supplies electricity to parts of the national capital, on Saturday warned of intermittent rotational power cuts as units supplying electricity to Delhi discoms have coal stocks to meet generation requirements for just one to two days.
Uttar Pradesh, too, is facing a huge crisis. In the absence of adequate coal stocks, thermal power plants are generating a fraction of their usual electricity. Some units are shutting down as well. Power projects like Anpara, Sonbhadra, Harduagang and Parichha have been severely affected.
In Madhya Pradesh, the energy minister said the state had coal reserves for just two days.
