The low stock of pre-monsoon coal at thermal power plants in India points to another power crisis in July-August, according to CREA, an independent research organization.
Presently, coal stocks at pithead power stations total 13.5 million tonnes, and cumulatively at power plants across the country total 20.7 million tonnes.
‘Failure to load: India’s power crisis is a coal management crisis’, a report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), states that coal power plants are unable to handle even a minor spike in power demand and planning for coal transportation is required well in advance.
As per the Central Electricity Authority of India (CEA), power demand is expected to peak at 214 GW in August. Furthermore, average energy demand is also expected to rise over what it was in May to 1,33,426 million units (MUs).
Mining and transportation of coal from mines to power stations will be further hampered by the southwest monsoon… The country might face another power crisis in July-August 2022 if coal stocks are not replenished to adequate levels before monsoon.
Additionally, the recent power crisis in the country was attributed to “distribution and indifference of the authorities”.
Despite adequate coal mining, it is apparent from the data that coal transportation and management were not sufficient to meet the increased demand from the power sector. The trends show that thermal power stations were not adequately stocked.
The country produced 777.26 million tonnes of coal in fiscal year 2021-22, compared with 716.08 million tonnes in fiscal year 21. This is an increase of 8.54 percent.
While the country had a total mineable capacity of over 1,500 MT in FY 21-22, the total production was 777.26 MT, less than half its capacity. Sunil Dahiya, an analyst at CREA, said coal companies had the option of simply increasing production if there were a real coal shortage.
There hasn’t been a significant increase in coal stock at power stations since May 2020, except for a few months in between.
Inaction by power plant operators before the southwest monsoon was the primary cause of the power crisis last year. A report stated that the timing is crucial because the monsoon floods coal mines, hampering production and transport to power plants.