Power outages to come back again? Record demand stokes fears
Premium- The rise in demand has been attributed to soaring temperatures and rising industrial activity and it has put huge pressure on domestic supplies of coal
India’s electricity demand has soared to new records, which brings back the fears that the blackouts that had eased in recent weeks might resume again. On Thursday, the peak electricity use jumped to a record 210.8 gigawatts, surpassing the previous record clocked a day before. The power ministry predicts that the excess demand might push the power plants to import coal to fulfill the same.
The rise in demand has been attributed to soaring temperatures and rising industrial activity and it has put huge pressure on domestic supplies of coal, which generate about 70% of the country’s power.
“The high power demand scenario is here to stay," said Rupesh Sankhe, vice president at Elara Capital India Pvt. in Mumbai told news agency Bloomberg. “We either brace for higher power prices on account of expensive coal imports or risk facing blackouts."
India’s power plants are operating with coal inventories of about 9 days, nearly a third of what is required. The stockpiles have risen in recent days, thanks to an increase in renewable power generation easing the burden on coal plants, but the situation is far from comfortable just weeks after an earlier heatwave caused widespread outages.
Adding to the power sector’s woes, the approaching monsoon rains could start flooding coal mines within weeks, impeding production and shipment of the fuel. Last autumn, the country saw its worst coal and power crisis in years, caused by a range of factors including a prolonged rainy season.