The supply bottlenecks causing power shortages

Context

The power sector in India is going through a crisis. Peak shortages in some states have reached double digits.

Chronology of the crisis

• First, with summer approaching before time, power demand has shot up to record levels.
• The second reason for the rise in power demand is that the economy is recovering, and demand from the industrial sector is going up.
• All things put together, power demand crossed 207 GW on April 29, which is about 14 per cent higher than what it was a year ago.
• Experts feel that the peak demand may even touch 215 GW in the coming months.

What are the reasons behind the coal shortage?

• Firstly, it’s important to note that this coal crisis is not because of any deficit in the supply of coalfrom domestic sources.
• Coal dispatches from Coal India during 2021-22 were 23% higher than in the previous year.
• There are two main reasons for coal shortage-
• The first is that due to a rise in the international price of coal on account of the Ukraine crisis, all plants that were importing coal have either stopped generating completely or are generating at much lower levels. We have a sizeable generating capacity based on imported coal, estimated at about 16 GW to 17 GW. All these plants after stopping imports are now looking for domestic coal, creating pressure on domestic coal.
• The second reason for low coal stocks is the non-availability of rakes with Indian railways for transporting coal.
• There is also the issue of availability of tracks since they are being used on a back-to-back basis.