Page 6 - The Indian EYE 051322

BIG STORY MAY 13, 2022 | The Indian Eye 6

Coal being loaded in the goods trains amid a power crisis due to shortage of coal, Tourists hold umbrellas to protect themselves from heat on a hot summer day
at Rai Coal mines in Piparwar (ANI Photo) at Taj Mahal in Agra (ANI Photo)

blamed the closure of a gas-driven a small portion of India’s power mix, favored for heat waves until the mon- purpose so that the additional coal
power plant in Kashipur in Udham a scarcity of coal and hot weather has soon rains arrive in June and July.” reaches power plants from the month
Singh Nagar district for the electricity triggered scheduled blackouts, threat- The intense heatwave in the past of May 2022 itself.
shortage. ening to upend the economy. Gas was few weeks across several parts of As per the release by the Ministry
Uttar Pradesh has a 3,000 MW used to produce about 4% of the na- northwest and central India has led to of Power, Singh said, “The states need
deficit against the demand of around tion’s electricity in 2020, versus 71% increased power demand. The peak to take actions to ensure coal supply to
23,000 MW. According to reports for coal. GAIL is seeking at least one power demand in the country touched their power plants by ensuring off-take
by news agencies, the supply is just more shipment for late-May, the trad- an all-time high of 207,111 MW on in the Rail-cum-Road (RCR) mode
20,000 MW, resulting in long power ers said, adding that several other In- April 29. to meet the shortfall in coal require-
cuts in the rural areas. dian firms are inquiring about cargoes Amid the crisis, Union Power ment at their power plants and stated
In Andhra Pradesh, according in the bilateral market. Minister R K Singh, on Thursday re- that in the event of states not lifting
to a report, state is facing a shortfall The heat wave also prompted viewed the status of import of coal for the RCR coal it would be de-allocat-
of about 50 million units of power as neighboring Pakistan to purchase the blending in the thermal power plants ed and offered to other States and the
against the demand, which is touching nation’s most expensive shipment of with the states. concerned States would be responsi-
210 million units a day. According to the fuel ever to avoid blackouts during Secretary (Power) Alok Kumar, ble for any shortages and consequent
the state energy secretary B Sridhar, the Eid holiday this week. Cash- Senior officials of the State Govern- power-shortages in their states.”
the current crisis, which was a na- strapped Pakistan recently released ments, and Gencos were present in He also stated that the domestic
tion-wide phenomenon, might ease a tender seeking to purchase another the meeting held virtually. The Min- coal would be supplied to all GEN-
by this week. two cargoes for June. ister highlighted the importance of COS in proportion to the coal re-
In Punjab, Ludhiana, Patiala and “This time of year, is when South importing coal for blending in the ceived from coal companies and the
Mohali are the worst hit by the long Asia, namely India and Pakistan, have thermal power plants, in view of the states to increase the output from the
power cuts issue as the maximum de- their hottest weather in advance of constraints in domestic coal supply captive mines to meet their coal re-
mand for power reached above 8,000 the monsoon,” said Jason Nicholls, a to meet the increased demand. The quirements which will help in reduc-
MW in the state. meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. states were advised to place orders ing the burden on the linkage coal.
Now, sweltering heat and ongo- “These areas will likely continue to be for importing of coal for blending As per the data presented by
ing blackouts are forcing India’s liq- CEA in the meeting, it was noted that
uefied natural gas importers to top up Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have
with expensive shipments. placed orders for the import of coal,
Torrent Power Ltd. and GAIL while Punjab and Gujarat are in the
India Ltd. bought LNG for May deliv- advanced stage of finalisation of the
ery in the last week, with the fuel set tenders; and the other states need to
to be used to help power plants boost put extra efforts to import the coal for
generation, according to traders with blending at their power plants in time.
knowledge of the matter. The utilities The States of Rajasthan, Madhya
paid about triple the normal spot rate Pradesh are in the process of issuing the
for this time of year, as Russia’s inva- tenders; and Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,
sion of Ukraine exacerbates a global West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand
supply crunch. have not yet issued tender or taken
The purchases are unusual for In- any significant actions for the import
dia’s cost-sensitive power generators, of coal and were advised to take nec-
which tend to avoid buying LNG at essary actions to ensure coal supply to
such high rates. They illustrate how a their power plants, read the release.
domestic coal shortage is forcing the The summer has just begun and
South Asian nation to look for alter- India’s power sector is already in cri-
native fuels no matter the price, fur- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters raise slogans during a protest against over frequent power sis. As the heat wave may intensify
ther elevating international demand. cuts in Amritsar on Thursday (ANI Photo) in the months of May and June, the
While natural gas makes up just country may face a new phase of crisis.

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