India’s electricity demand is rising at the fastest pace in decades, and almost four of its total thermal, nuclear, and hydropower installed capacity is shut down. Due to the emerging power demand, India faces a coal supply shortage, All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) indicated. Coal shortage, along with high temperature, has led to an increased demand for electricity, and several states have to cut power supply for long eight hours in households.
Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Punjab are among the states that are facing widespread power cuts due to coal scarcity. In the first half of 2022, the total domestic power demand was at a 38-year high for the month. India faced a 1.1% power shortage in October. This shortfall shot up to 1.4% in April 2022, AIPEF Chairman Shildra Dubey said.
As per the Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) report, the coal stock at 81 out of 150 thermal power stations using domestic coal is critical. Also, the condition of the private thermal plants is equally bad as 28 out of the 54 plants are running out of stock at this time.
According to the reports, in the northern region, the worst suffering states are Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. India is facing long power cuts and a shortage of electricity due to coal scarcity.
“Mainly, the shutdown is due to coal shortage at power units. There is not enough coal supply from Coal India, and there is a shortage of transport infrastructure. The other bigger issue is that some of the discoms are delaying payments, which means generators are unable to buy enough coal to run their plants,” Harry Dhaul, Director-General of the Independent Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI) told Moneycontrol.
Concerning the power crisis, the Union Power Ministry has recommended the import of coal for blending up to 10% to ensure adequate stock when the power demand is at its peak in the next few months.
