Power Crisis: The demand for power is expected to rise further in coming days.
The demand for power has risen in April due to heatwave and people in different parts of the country are facing power cuts. The problem has been accentuated by a steep rise in prices of imported coal due to Russia-Ukraine conflict and some power plants not operating to their full capacity.
Amid reports of dip in coal stocks with thermal plants, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has said that the country's thermal plants hold about 22 million tonnes of coal which is enough for 10 days and replenishment will be done continuously.
Jharkhand, Haryana, Bihar, Punjab, Maharashtra are among states seeing power outages. Delhi has also written to Centre over the possibility of power cuts to important establishments. The states and UTs are also taking steps to deal with the situation.
1. Delhi
The Delhi government on Thursday expressed its concern over the possible shortage of coal in power plants that supply electricity to the national capital. It has written to the central government urging it to ensure adequate coal supply.
Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain also held an emergency meeting at Delhi Secretariat in this context yesterday.
"At present, there is a shortage of coal in various thermal stations supplying electricity. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)'s Dadri-II and Jhajjar (Aravalli), both power plants were established primarily to meet the power requirement in Delhi. However, there is very little stock of coal left even in these power plants," Jain said in a statement.
The minister assured that the Delhi government is monitoring the situation closely and making every possible effort to ensure that people do not face power outages in some areas of the national capital.
For the first time in April, Delhi's peak power demand clocked 6,000 megawatts (MW) as the unabated heatwave continues to push the power demand to newer highs.
2. Haryana
Amid reports of thermal power plants witnessing a dip in their coal stocks, Haryana will take additional power from states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and other sources to meet the consumption need, said state Power Minister Ch Ranjeet Singh.
"We will tackle the situation within a week and 1200-1400 MW additional power would be taken from Adani. Power consumption has increased. Further, 350 MW of additional power would be taken from Chhattisgarh and 150 MW from Madhya Pradesh," the Minister told ANI.
3. Bihar
Bihar is also one of the states reeling from power shortage during this sweltering summer. State Power Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said on Thursday that power shortage of around 1000 Megawatt (MW) power will be resolved in a day or two.
He also asserted that talks with the central government regarding the shortage of power supply were being held.
4. Jharkhand
Jharkhand is also facing power cuts due to shortfall in power production in thermal plants supplying electricity to the state.
A shopkeeper in Ranchi said they have to face power outage for 3-4 hours and it is affecting business. Several other shopkeepers also complained of the power outages impacting their business.
PM Prasad, MD-Chairman of the Central Coalfields Limited, said they have reviewed the production of CCL and Eastern Coalfield Limited (ECL).
"We (CCL) have been given a target to provide 2.20 lakh tonnes of coal per day to the power plants. ECL has asked to provide 75,000 tonnes of coal. Currently, we have a coal stock of 6.6 million tonnes, of which 2 lakh tonnes are distributed every day, so our stock will last up to 30 days," he said.
5. Punjab
People in Punjab have also faced power cuts due to drop in power generation. The state government has assured of remedial steps. State Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had earlier this week met Union Power Minister RK Singh to ensure uninterrupted and regular supply to Punjab during the ensuing paddy season.