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New Delhi: Anticipating at least two more surges in peak power demand across the country due to raging temperatures, the power ministry is planning to push for coal imports and will also ask generation companies (gencos) to use roadways for coal transport as well, said a senior official of the ministry familiar with the matter.
In another step to increase electricity generation, the ministry is also planning to activate non-operational coal fired plants to fill the energy shortfall, the official said.
“Analysing previous year’s data and in view of the predictions of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), we are projecting the power demand to peak again maximum twice — in July when temperatures rise again and in September, when humidity increases due to the monsoons. However, it will totally depend on the weather conditions, so we can just make projections,” said the official, asking not to be named.
A peak power demand of 200,570 MW was recorded on July 7, 2021. This year, that record broke way ahead when demand reached 207,111 MW on April 29 due to an earlier-than-expected heatwave which gripped the country last month. The heatwave was so intense that the average temperatures in April in northern and central India were the highest in about 122 years.
But, the ministry has projected that even this record will be broken in the coming months with the peak electricity demand ranging between 215,000-220,000 MW.
According to the ministry official, the ministry is first trying hard to resolve the logistical issues being faced in transportation of coal. On Friday, the power ministry issued an order that all state-run gencos that fail to lift coal in the rail-cum-road (RCR) mode would have to face de-allocation of that quantum and the same will be offered to other states.
“In such a scenario, the concerned state(s) would be responsible for any shortages and consequent power-shortages in their state(s),” the ministry had said in a statement later.
Ministry data showed that states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal had delayed lifting the allotted coal.
The railways has already increased its average daily loading of coal cargo trains to over 400 everyday, the highest in five years. “But, still it is turning out to be less. It is also working on repairing damaged wagons and finding other ways to increase rakes. However, the railways alone cannot take the entire load. So, we are also asking gencos to simultaneously transport coal through roadways rather than just waiting for train rakes,” said a second power ministry official.
“About 7,100 MW electricity is being targeted from stressed power projects or those under liquidation. Next, the ministry is also considering conducting bulk auctions for states. For this, we are planning to aggregate the power demand projections from all the states and Union territories,” said the official.
The ministry is also pushing gencos for importing coal for blending in thermal power plants, in view of the constraints in domestic coal supply. “The states were advised to place orders for import of coal for blending purposes so that the additional coal reaches power plants from the month of May itself,” the official added.
As per CEA data, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have placed orders for the import of coal, while Punjab and Gujarat are in the advanced stage of finalisation of the tenders. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh are in the process of issuing the tenders, while Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand have not yet issued tenders or taken any significant action for importing coal.
In the first eight days of May, the average daily peak demand was 196,708 MW and the average daily shortage was 912 MW which is 0.5% of the demand. In a similar time frame in April (first eight days of April), the average daily peak demand was 194,580 MW and the average daily shortage was 2968 MW (3 times more than the May shortage), which is also 1.5% of the demand.
A comparison of the first eight days of May to the last eight days of April shows that the daily average peak demand shortage has dropped from 6,972 MW to 912 MW, a reduction of 87%.
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