A severe scarcity of coal is wreaking havoc on the country. Many states, including Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Tamil Nadu, have begun to feel the effects of coal crisis. As the second-largest coal consumer in the world following China, India is expected to see further outages as the global coal scarcity worsens.
While some parts of the country have been going through power cuts, others are already experiencing a blackout and yet more are expected to be affected by this new problem.
Punjab: Due to a severe coal scarcity at thermal power facilities in Punjab, PSPCL has had to reduce power generation. Rotational load shedding is imposed at several places in the state.
Coal-fired power facilities are operating at a reduced capacity, an official from Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) said. The state’s coal-fired power facilities have up to five days worth of coal on hand. To conserve coal, plants are running at a reduced capacity, PSPCL stated.
Currently, the state’s electricity demand is at 9,000 megawatts (MW). Officials said that, in addition to the agricultural sector’s demand for electricity, the state’s power needs are being exacerbated due to high daytime temperatures.
Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, expressed his concerns on Saturday, saying that the national capital could face a power outage and that his government is taking all precautions to avert such a disaster. The chief minister went on to say that he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting his help in securing adequate coal and gas supplies for the city’s electricity production plants.
Rajasthan: The Rajasthan government stated on Friday that it will start a daily one-hour power cut to address the nationwide coal crisis, which has pushed many utilities to the brink of running out of coal. The state government announced that the cuts would be made in ten large cities with population of millions of people, making it the first state to formally plan outages due to the issue.
Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) said on Friday that power will be turned off in portions of Chennai for maintenance. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., several parts of the city were shut out of power. The worst-affected locations in the city were Sholinganallur, Guindy, Sholinganallur, Injambakkam, Annasalai, Ambattur, Redhills, Perambur, and Manali.
Jharkhand, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh: Jharkhand, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh, among other states, are the hardest hit by the coal scarcity. Andhra Pradesh is facing unanticipated power interruptions due to severe supply shortages, with crops at risk of drying up if irrigation pumps are not powered by electricity.
Odisha: The Odisha government has been requested by the Utkal Chamber Of Commerce & Industry Ltd (UCCI), an industry body, to provide enough coal supply to state-based enterprises that are suffering from a severe scarcity of dry fuel to run their operations.
UCCI wrote in a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday, that they would like to bring to his attention, the current acute coal scarcity issue in the state with several units out of stock or critical coal stock seriously hurting the viable operation of the industrial units.
The UCCI also asked the state government to inform the Ministry of Coal to direct MCL and CIL to increase coal supply to local industries in the state so that stock outs of coal are avoided and a safe level of coal stock is maintained in essential units to avoid any disruptions in operations.
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