States suffer power cuts as coal stocks shrink
North Indian states have suffered power cuts and face extended outages because of a shortage of coal, contradicting government assurances that there is enough power.
Over half of India’s 135 coal-fired power plants, which in total supply around 70% of India’s electricity, have fuel stocks of less than three days, data from the federal grid operator POSOCO showed.
Reuters analysis of daily load despatch data from federal grid regulator POSOCO showed India’s power supply deficit in the first seven days of October amounted to 11.2% of the country’s total shortages throughout the year.
Energy supplies are under strain globally as prices have surged due to a strong recovery of consumption following the pandemic lockdowns.
Govt issues guidelines for optimum utilization of power generation capacity
Ministry of Power on Friday issued guidelines for operationalizing optimum utilization of generating stations as per the requirement in the electricity grid. A ministry directive issued on Friday provided guidelines in this regard.
According to the order of the ministry, it has been brought to the notice of the government that some power plants are not generating to their full capacity at any given time and the unutilised capacity remains idle as they are tied up under power purchase agreements.
Whereas in the public interest, such power needs to be despatched (supplied) where there is a requirement in the grid by the other users or consumers, it stated.