India is facing a power crisis as coal reserves at power plants have fallen to unprecedentedly low levels, and state governments are warning of power shutdowns.
The Indian government has issued a scathing warning to the states that the number of coal supplies to thermal power plants, which convert coal to electricity, is falling from very high levels.
According to data, the Central Electricity Authority of India, nearly 80% of its coal-fired plants were in the supercritical stage, which means their stock could run out in less than six days. As a result, Maharashtra shutdowns its 13 thermal power plants and urged people to use less electricity, and three power plants in Punjab stopped production.
States including Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Bihar get electricity for 14 to 18 hours facing cuts. However, experts have emphasized that the power cut issues are not due to a lack of domestic coal production, as we have been hearing. India has seen rapid growth in domestic coal production from the past two decades, although coal production declined by less than 1% from 2019 to 2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Instead, the energy providers and Coal India Limited, India’s state-owned coal producer, have been accused of failing to meet demand growth and stockpile enough. This crisis is not manifested by lack of coal mining capacity, but because of improper foresight, planning and unnecessary storage of coal by electricity generators and energy regulators in the country.
This year, the floods caused by heavy monsoon rains have also been blamed for affecting domestic coal mining and hampering coal dispatch from the mines. Commonly is imported to bridge the gap in production. Coal is brought into our country from outside the country that is imported. But because of this energy crisis, which has seen international prices hit record highs, importing more coal has become a significant challenge, leading to greater shortages in general.
This Tuesday, the government asked power producers to import up to 10% of their necessary coal stocks and warned states that federal companies would curb their power supplies if they were founds selling electricity on power exchanges to cash in on surging prices.
Vibhuti Garg, India’s chief economist for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said that the growth rate of renewable energy installations has slowed over the past year, and the Indian government has increased the potential for renewable energy, such as solar, wind and hydro. So that the increased demand could be met through renewable energy, and this crisis could also be avoided.
Coal minister Pralhad Joshi blamed that heavy rain and the high price of international coal for disrupting supply but insisted that in “another three to four days, things will be alright”.
However, some concerns will use the shortfall to promote domestic coal production, with some state governments pushing for early approvals for new coal mines in an already protected area.
India had already planned to increase its domestic coal production to 1 billion tones by 2024.
Any further expansion of mining activity will primarily affect India’s tribal communities who live in the forests that cover India’s largest coal reserves and have already borne the brunt of the environmental damage of coal mining.
Coal-based generation is expensive, and the prices will increase in future. On the other hand, renewable energy generation is cheap, and prices are likely to go further.
There is only one solution to this situation by promoting green energy and making a pollution-free country. We must end our dependence on coal by adopting solar energy today.
“Set up your own solar plant and get clean environment free from electricity bill and pollution.”