On March 17, 2022, the energy minister said in the Lok Sabha that the total generation capacity of the country's power stations is 395.6 GW. The maximum demand has been only 203 GW. The reason for the current crisis was attributed to the sudden increase in demand. However, this maximum demand is 207.11 GW. That is, much less than the government's stated generation capacity of 395.6 GW.
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| Powerstation stopped working due to low supply of coal. Source: Pixabay |
The power crisis has been the most talked about for the past
several days. Every day different reasons for this crisis are coming to the
fore. Sometimes there is talk of demand supply, sometimes dues of power
companies, sometimes heat is cited as the reason, and sometimes the lack of
coal rakes is said to be the reason. What is the real reason for this? Let us
understand from this story of this crisis.
This is from 17th March 2022. The question was asked to the
government in the Lok Sabha that there is a shortage of electricity in the
country. In response, Energy Minister RK Singh gave. Singh said that there is
sufficient availability to meet the demand of electricity. Presenting the data,
the energy minister said that as on February 28, the total generation capacity
of the power stations in the country is about 395.6 GW and the maximum demand
has been only up to 203 GW. This did not happen even for one and a half months
and the power crisis started increasing in the country. It was said that this
is happening due to the sudden increase in demand with increasing heat. It was
also said that the demand for electricity is at a record level. Do you know how
much this demand has happened? Max 207.11 Giga Watts. That is, much less than
the government's stated generation capacity of 395.6 GW.
One more thing is being said. This crisis has come due to the shortage of coal. On this too, a statement came from the government on Saturday. Union Minister Prahlad Joshi said that during UPA, 566 million tonnes of coal were supplied and today we are supplying 818 million tonnes. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel retaliated on this claim of the government. Baghel asked, 'If there is no shortage of coal, then why are trains being cancelled across the country?' Baghel said, 'You are getting such expensive coal from abroad and you are not even paying royalty to the states. You are harming the states, you are not even paying royalty to the coal here.
Now you will say where is the problem? What is the demand
and supply position of coal? Could the situation get worse going forward? Let
us answer all these questions…
Where is
the trouble?
Experts say that the demand for electricity has increased
with increasing heat. This demand is at record level. Power companies are short
of coal to meet this demand. The demand and consumption of coal has increased
by 20 per cent. Efforts are being made to meet the sudden increased demand.
Coal companies have supplied 15 percent more coal to power companies in April
this year as compared to 2021. Which is five percent less than the demand.
A major reason for this crisis is also dues of power
companies. On the one hand, the power distribution companies have not paid
crores of rupees to the power generation companies. On the other hand, power generation
companies also owe crores of coal companies. It is being claimed in the reports
that these dues are up to Rs 1.23 trillion. Which is about 17 percent more than
last year. States like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana account for 70 per cent of the dues.
However, government companies like NTPC are supplying even
after non-payment of dues. At the same time, some companies are refusing to
supply due to non-payment of dues even after the rule. Union Energy Secretary
Alok Kumar told a newspaper that the state governments of the six states which
have the highest dues have not been able to pay the subsidies given to the
discoms. Along with this, the electricity bills of government departments are
also outstanding.
Also Read: Maharshtra: Both the runways of Mumbai airport will be closed from 11 am to 5 pm on May 10
What is the
demand and supply position of coal?
The maximum demand reached 207.11 GW on April 29. Which was
the record. There was a total energy shortage of 214 million units in the
country on this day. The northern region was the worst hit with an energy
shortfall of 156.5 million units. That is, there was the most crisis in this
area. This is the difference due to which the power crisis deepened. However,
on April 30 and May 1, the demand for electricity decreased. Along with this,
the demand-supply gap also narrowed. On May 1, this demand came down to less
than 200 GW.
The gap between the demand and supply of energy is being
attributed to the non-supply of coal. To bridge this gap, Railways has
increased the frequency of freight trains by cancelling more than 650 passenger
trains, so that coal can be transported to the power plant faster. Thermal
power plants to generate electricity from coal should have a coal stock of at
least 24 days, but there are many such plants in the country where less than 10
days of coal is left.
Could the
situation get worse going forward?
In the last two days, due to the changed weather and lack of
demand, this crisis has reduced a bit for the time being. However, the heat is
expected to increase in the coming days. This will once again increase the
demand. In such a situation, from coal companies to power companies, will have
to prepare for this. Coal India produces 80 percent of the total coal
production in the country. Despite record production, the demand-supply gap is not
being bridged. Keeping this in view, Coal India has set a target of increasing
the supply by 4.6 per cent to 565 million tonnes in this financial year. In
view of the increasing demand, the Ministry of Power has asked to increase the
import of coal to 36 million tonnes. Which is the highest in the last six
years.
Even six months ago, there was talk of such a crisis because of what was
it?
After the second wave of Corona, the demand for electricity
increased in the industrial sector of the country. Coal prices reached record
levels in the international market. Whereas the prices in the country were
quite low. Due to this difference, the difficulties of import increased. At
that time, Coal India had said that due to rising prices in the international market,
we had to depend on domestic coal production. This situation arose due to the
gap between demand and supply. However, the situation did not deteriorate with
the onset of winter. At the time of that crisis, there was a one per cent gap
between the demand and supply of electricity. Whereas, in the last seven days
itself, this difference has become 1.4 percent. This time such a situation has
arisen in the beginning of summer. The demand for electricity will increase
further. The situation is worsening with the Russo-Ukraine war. Because of
this, the crisis is likely to deepen. Read More