Energy Crisis after Health Crisis?
With the pandemic coming to an end and things opening up slowly after the carnage and distress caused by the second wave of Covid-19 in India, businesses are expecting a boom with the markets opening to their original normalcy after 18 months and with festivities like Diwali around the corner the consumer is set to go out with deep pockets and finally find some stability after battling challenging times.
As the economy is bouncing back with a bull run at the markets which is symbolized by the fact that Sensex has crossed 60K and Nifty has crossed 18K over this past week. Everyone is looking forward to the fag end of 2021 and the next year to recoup the losses faced during the pandemic, which isn’t over quite yet. This revitalization will require a high amount of energy to run factories, production units back to their efficiency and a lot of states currently face a looming coal crisis which could hamper the baby steps taken by various sectors towards reopening.
India is still in an early phase of adopting renewable energy for power generation though, a lot of projects are being undertaken to increase the power generation of Solar Power Plants, Hydro-Electric Plants, and Nuclear Power Plants. This process is in its nascent stage and almost 68% of the nation's power is generated by Thermal Power Plants that make use of coal. These Thermal Power plants also make use of petroleum but most of the power generated comes from different varieties of coal like peat, anthracite, and bituminous.
As it stands, the power plants which generate electricity by coal are facing acute coal shortages over the coming months if the issues are not handled properly. The average level of coal stocks at an increasing number of India’s thermal power plants has come down to four days worth of stock compared to the government recommendations that thermal power plants hold 14 days worth of coal stock. States like Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat are facing power cuts and load shedding if this issue is ignored.
Time and again the ministers, who are supposed to look into these things and be preemptive with their actions when such a power crisis might be a possibility, have publicly come out and bashed the shortage of coal as baseless claims. Union Power Minister R K Singh has said that while the supply crunch has not yet led to any power cuts in the country, the coal supply situation is likely to be “uncomfortable” for up to six months. The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman quite curtly stated that there is no shortage of anything and all the reports are baseless.
But when Home Minister Amit Shah calls a meeting to address and take stock of the situation, you get wondering how baseless and false these reports are. Time and again the government has played hickey when it comes to telling citizens what the situation is and the media instead of calling out the issues or holding the representatives elected through universal franchise and a democratic process always distracts the public by comical and unimportant newsflash (Aryan Khan case).
One of the puzzling and humorous reasons for why entire states might be facing blackout and load shedding in the coming months given by the officials is “The government has connected an additional 28.2 million households and these households are buying lights, fans, and television sets leading to an increase in power demand”. This seems to be the most shortsighted reason an official can present to the people. Of course, power demand was going to increase as offices, industries, malls and cinemas opened up again after almost a 1-year closure, wasn’t that obvious or are we tripping in unison?
The real reason, which seems to be affecting every aspect of our life right from our lungs to electricity is climate change. This year saw India affected by numerous cyclones and a more than sufficient rainfall which led to floods in various parts of Maharashtra and also a lot of rainfall in the regions where coal mines were operational. Due to this, over the months of monsoon in India, the rate at which mining was usually carried out slowed down considerably due to the flooding of mines. A similar situation has arisen in our good friend China where mines were not operational and as the economy revives, acute power shortage is expected.
This crisis can be easily averted and managed but it would take a lot of leadership and a fine sense of judgement which no one knows if the sitting ministers or bureaucrats are capable of displaying. With the public being titillated and fooled by other distractions, the main pressing issue which might affect our daily lives is being thrown under the carpet.
If you wish to read more about the same, these articles provide an in-depth explanation of the current situation and the steps being taken to combat this crisis
