'Use Electricity Judiciously': Blackout Warning For Delhi as Coal Supply Dwindles

After facing a brutal second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic that claimed many lives daily and led to a shortage of medical oxygen at various city hospitals in April and May this year, a new challenge has arisen to threaten Delhiites as an issue of intermittent electricity cuts has started looming in the national capital due to a severe shortage of coal in the country.

At a time when people are resuming economic activities that were shut down due to Covid-19-induced lockdown and prepping for the ongoing festival season, a warning by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government for power cuts could bring troubles for them.

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Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the electricity suppliers will have to gear-up and source adequate electricity to meet the power demand to serve residents of Delhi, including essential services such as hospitals, labs, quarantine centres, vaccination centres, etc.

WHAT DELHI GOVT SAYS

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said Delhi could face a power crisis and his government is taking adequate steps to avoid such a situation. Kejriwal said he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his intervention in making adequate arrangements of coal and gas to generation plants supplying electricity to the city.

“Delhi could face a power crisis. I am personally keeping a close watch over the situation. We are trying our best to avoid it. In the meanwhile, I wrote a letter to Hon’ble PM seeking his personal intervention,” Kejriwal tweeted. In his letter to Modi, the Delhi CM noted that the city was facing coal shortage since August.

Expressing the same concern, Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain has appealed the Centre to look into the matter. “There is a coal shortage even when production plants are not running at full capacity. We appeal to Centre to look into the matter. We have a Power Purchase Agreement where they’re giving us half of the electricity. We have come to point of rationing,” he said.

Calling it a “man-made crisis similar to the oxygen crisis”, Jain said, “There is a possibility of politics as it appears to be a man-made crisis similar to the oxygen crisis. We have 3.5 times more production capacity than what we require and still, we are not able to produce power.”

He also said that power plants are not working in 100 per cent capacity. “They are working on minimum condition which is 50 per cent. I appeal that every plant work in 100 per cent capacity. If it is not possible of 1 month stock so 15 days stock should be provided. For two days, gas will be provided by the central government and after that there is no guaranty,” he added.

WHAT NEXT

The shortages have stoked fears of potential black-outs in parts of India, where 70 per cent of power is generated from coal.

Power discom Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) CEO Ganesh Srinivasan has warned that coal shortage across the country has led to reduced power generation and Delhi might go through intermittent rotational load shedding in coming days.

Coal-based power stations supplying electricity to Delhi discoms have coal stocks to meet generation requirements for one-two days against 20 days as per applicable regulations, he said in a statement. “As a result, Delhi might go through intermittent rotational load shedding.

However, proactive steps by both Delhi as well as the central government for handling the grim situation are under consideration to arrange or divert coal for power generation,” Srinivasan said.

TPDDL, which supplies power to north and northwest Delhi areas, has started sending SMS to its customers urging them to use electricity judiciously.

“Due to limited coal availability in generation plants across north, power supply scenario between 2 pm to 6 pm is at critical level. Kindly use electricity judiciously. Be a responsible citizen. Inconvenience caused is regretted, read an SMS received by a TPDDL consumer in Burari.

Earlier last week, Power Minister R K Singh had admitted to the coal shortage at thermal power plants in the country and termed it beyond usual. However, later he had also said that the power demand would be moderated in the second half of October and coal supplies will also improve at plants.

Power Demand in Delhi

Delhi’s peak power demand inched past that of 2020, discom officials had said, adding that this year, between July and September, the national capital’s peak power demand was 53 per cent higher in comparison with the corresponding days of 2020 and 34 per cent more than 2019.

Apart from the unlocking and resumption of economic activities, weather also has had a profound impact on the city’s power demand. Analysing on a monthly basis, Delhi’s peak power demand was 70 per cent higher than on corresponding days in 2020. On the other hand, on account of the rainy season, the peak power demand in September 2021 has been lower than that of September 2020 on most corresponding days, officials had said.

Earlier on July 2 this year, Delhi’s peak power demand had clocked this season’s highest at 7,323 MW. In fact, this was only the third year in Delhi’s power history that the peak power demand crossed 7,000 MW, they said. In 2018, the peak power demand had crossed the 7,000 MW for the first time, clocking 7,016 MW. In 2019, it reached 7,409 MW. In 2020, Delhi’s season’s highest peak power demand had only clocked 6,314 MW.

The peak power demand in August 2021 was 14 per cent more than the peak power demand of August 2020 and 1.18 percent more than the peak power demand of August 2019, they added.

(with inputs from PTI)

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