Will India also go into an energy crisis?
As in China, India is also blaming the coal shortage: electricity supplies are at risk, as is the economic recovery from the pandemic
The energy price crisis does not only concern Europe and does not only concern natural gas : the costs of coal (with serious repercussions especially in China ) and oil are also high, which exceeded 81 dollars a barrel and could reach 90 by the end of the year.
India is also in trouble: it is a large consumer of crude oil, so much so that it has put pressure on OPEC + to increase the supply, but also of coal, used to generate 70 percent of electricity.
COAL STOCKS
Its coal stocks have been at their lowest in years and this is a problem, as winter is approaching and energy demand will rise. Not only that: in October, energy consumption in the country reaches high levels for Diwali, one of the most important Indian holidays. A decline in industrial production due to a lack of fuel would damage the manufacturing recovery of Asia's third largest economy, which also contracted by 7.3 percent in the last fiscal year.
RISKS OF INTERRUPTION
On average, coal-fired power plants in India have enough fuel for four days; more than half of the country's plants – 75 out of 135 – are in a state of alert for possible power outages.
According to the Minister of Electricity, Raj Kumar Singh, India may have to prepare for a period of shortage of energy supplies lasting five to six months.
The first electricity shortages are already emerging, Al Jazeera writes, and there is a gap of more than 4 gigawatts between electricity availability and peak demand levels. Some northern states such as Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been affected so far.
WHAT COAL INDIA DOES
State-owned energy company Coal India, the world's largest coal producer, would like to increase daily fuel supplies from the current 1.7 million tons to 1.9 million by mid-October. At the moment, according to official data, there is a gap of 60,000 to 80,000 tons per day in deliveries of coal to power plants.
Coal production was damaged by the monsoons, which caused flooding in the eastern and central parts of the country and impacted on coal logistics. For output to truly recover, the rains would have to stop, so mines can increase activity and trucks deliver more frequently.
WILL INDIA REMAIN WITHOUT LIGHT?
Al Jazeera explains that despite low inventory levels, power plants are unlikely to run out of fuel. The government could in fact decide to use coal destined for industrial purposes (for example to companies that produce aluminum or cement) for energy generation.
THE PRICES OF COAL
Meanwhile, high coal prices make it difficult for India to purchase supplies from abroad. Indonesian thermal coal has reached a value close to 120 dollars per ton, against 45 recorded at the beginning of the year.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/india-carbone-crisi-energetica/ on Sun, 10 Oct 2021 06:12:04 +0000.