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Page added on July 18, 2014
Indian Power crisis looms as coal stocks run low
India is staring at a major power crisis in the coming months as 50% of the country’s thermal power plants are running on very low coal stock of less than four days or even lesser.
India uses coal to generate more than half of its electricity.
The northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttrakhand could be the worst hit and may have to deal with a net deficit of 1,792 megawatt (mw) in power availability in August.
Uttar Pradesh is likely to have a power deficit of 1,948 mw, followed by Punjab (558 mw), according to data available with the power ministry.
Some states such as Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana among others have surplus power.
As many as 47 out of the 100 coal-based power stations are running stocks of less than seven days, figures from Central Electricity Authority show. These plants are mainly affected due to lesser supplies from Coal India and its subsidiaries.
Adding to the already existing woes is poor monsoon and the biting summer heat. The Central Water Commission’s latest figures reveal that water levels in 85 major reservoirs monitors have almost halved in one month. Almost 31 hydel projects are generating power at about 35% of their total capacity.
India’s largest power generating company, NTPC Ltd, has already issued a warning to the Centre as coal stocks at six of its thermal power stations generating around 17,000 mw are running less than two days of stock.
NTPC has warned that the situation could only worsen as “with the ensuing monsoons, it will become more difficult to replenish coal stocks and in case of even small disruptions, total power generation at these stations will be adversely affected.”
“It is a known fact that there is a problem of adequate coal in several power plants across the country but if we analyse this problem you will realise that since 2009 it is only aggravating,” power minister Piyush Goyal said.
“India produced 492 million tonnes of coal in 2008-09. Today, the production is only 565.6 mt, a growth of only 73 mt in five years.” Goyal said, adding that the government was taking steps to improve the situation in 1-3 years.
10 Comments on "Indian Power crisis looms as coal stocks run low"
Makati1 on Sat, 19th Jul 2014 7:29 am
Australia would be happy to sell them some coal. It’s for sale in a lot of areas of the world. After all, New Hampshire just bought a ship load from Russia for their power plants this winter.
Kenz300 on Sat, 19th Jul 2014 9:59 am
Once wind or solar power plants are installed there is no ongoing cost for FUEL supplies……….
Time to speed up the transition to safer, cleaner and cheaper alternative energy sources.
The cost of coal, oil and nuclear keeps rising and causing environmental damage.
The cost of wind and solar keep dropping and they are safe and clean.
JuanP on Sat, 19th Jul 2014 10:40 am
I do agree with the title of this article, an Indian power crisis looms. Pakistan has the same problem.
The conclusion had me LOL, though. The problem is that India is only producing 73 million tonnes of coal per year more than it was producing 5 years ago according to the author. If only that were the problem. Someone doesn’t get it!
MSN Fanboy on Sat, 19th Jul 2014 10:47 am
Kenz300: “Once wind or solar power plants are installed there is no ongoing cost for FUEL supplies……….” i would agree, but its not the whole picture Kenz…. Transmission lines?maintenance? Production? Batteries? BAU? Low energy return? Intermittant? Finance?
The point is we will ALWAYS need a fossil fuels base somewhere just to uphold this renewable tech as fuel for its production and maintenance.
Renewables dont grow on trees, unless you count bio-mass lol
They require production lines, that all leads to BAU fossil fuel use.
Renewables are like a supplement, an add-on, a vitamin tablet. Yes they give you essential nutrients but you cant survive off them.
And anyhow, it is clear we are heading to a brown tech future, collapse will be post-poned but when we do fall ( look at all the metrics of progress, how were reversing 🙁 ) it will be quick and painful.
Dont get me wrong, as a prepper i have a solar and wind system that should give me 25 years (hopefully) of power, but the batteries etc.. that are part of the system have 6 years tops of life among other parts in the system.
Renewables are great, but i have no illusions about there production of there upkeep: just ask my wallet.
Mark on Sat, 19th Jul 2014 11:08 am
Sound like it is time for India to go solar. And solar does have a positive EROEI and is getting better all the time. Once the infrastructure is in place you can use solar energy to make more solar panels and still have a huge surplus of energy. Any noting that you need fossil fuels once the new system is self sustaining is nonsense. Batteries and solar are finally improving every year.
ghung on Sat, 19th Jul 2014 11:32 am
MSN Fanboy: “…but the batteries etc.. that are part of the system have 6 years tops of life among other parts in the system.”
Re: batteries – Since there are several systems I’ve installed with battery sets performing well into their second decade, I beg to differ, though I’m not arguing your overall point.
One friend installed cheap Costco golf cart batteries over 10 years ago which are still going pretty strong because he heeded my instructions and we sized the system correctly. Most lead-acid batteries fail prematurely due to human error and unrealistic expectations. How is it that some folks can kill a car in 5 years/100k miles, and others can take the exact same model car 300k miles/15 years?
As for overall system longevity, our oldest panels will have been in continuous service for 20 years this October and are still outputting full power. We’ve never had a PV panel fail,, never. As for other system components, we’ve had one failure in that time period; a cooling fan that was easy to replace, provided at no charge from Outback. Renewables don’t last forever, but, in our case, beat the crap out of every other investment I’ve made,, by far. Further, living successfully on renewables is a great way of bringing ones expectations closer to reality.
Northwest Resident on Sat, 19th Jul 2014 11:58 am
The only thing worse than living a life without access to electricity and all the conveniences that it offers is to have experienced living with all those electrical conveniences and then losing them. Around the world populations of people are getting hooked up to the electrical grid for the first time, experiencing the wonders and comforts of electrically powered items, but the experience will likely be short-lived for most of those people.
Davy on Sat, 19th Jul 2014 12:28 pm
Good point NR! Nice to know G if I properly maintain my system the life is more than I anticipated
HARM on Sat, 19th Jul 2014 12:35 pm
Why haven’t noobtube and Makati reminded us all that India is an egalitarian paradise populated by “noble savages” unencumbered by the evils of Western society?
There should be no shortages of power (or anything else) there, because, again, no American or European “devils”, amiright? And why is India using such a filthy polluting source of energy like coal anyway? Being governed by non-western altruistic angels, they should already have figured out how to run their power grid to run off goodwill and rainbows.
JuanP on Sat, 19th Jul 2014 3:49 pm
My understanding is that the new Indian Prime Minister, Mohdi, is a big fan of solar energy, but we’ll have to wait and see how much he really does to encourage its growth, though.
The time for solar is now, both in India and everywhere else, prices have fallen and costs are very reasonable right now. Solar is a great investment.