Gurugram Faces 6 Hours Of Power Cuts: How Is Haryana Govt Tackling Energy Crisis In State

Gurugram faced at least six hours of power cuts as the electricity demand in the city touched 9,000 megawatts (MV) with the supply falling short by 1,500 MW. Gurugram is likely to face more power outages in the next few days till the issue is resolved.

New Delhi: An energy crisis seem to be looming over parts of country as coal supplies have gone low with the latest state being hit was Haryana. Gurugram in Haryana saw at least six hours of power cut as the electricity demand in the city touched 9,000 megawatts (MV) with the supply falling short by 1,500 MW. Four to six hours of total power outage lasted till Thursday evening, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) said. The power cuts lasted for 15 minutes to nearly an hour during different time of the day and it is likely that Gurugram will face more power outage on Friday and the next few days.

Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited on Thursday said the average demand of electricity in the state is around 7,000 MW, according to a report by Hindustan Times. Amid reports of thermal power plants witnessing a dip in their coal stocks, Haryana said it will take additional power from states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and other sources to meet the consumption.

What Haryana govt said on power crisis

Haryana government said the power crisis in the state will be tackled within a week. Speaking on how the state is looking to solve the power crisis issue, Haryana Power Minister Ch Ranjeet Singh said, “We will tackle the situation within a week. 1200-1400 MW additional power would be taken from Adani. Power consumption has increased. Further, 350 MW of additional power would be taken from Chhattisgarh and 150 MW from Madhya Pradesh.”

Singh further said a unit of the thermal power plant has been closed for technical issues.
“A unit of a thermal power plant had been closed. Its router had to be changed. It has to be brought from China. It could not happen during COVID due to the lockdown in China. The replacement will be completed soon,” the Haryana minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

• Haryana to take 350 MW of additional power from Chhattisgarh and 150 MW from Madhya Pradesh to tackle power crisis in the state.
• Replacement of major unit of a thermal power plant, which has also affected the power outage situation in Haryana, will be completed soon

Power crisis across country: What do we know so far

A potent combination of sweltering summer and acute coal shortages have triggered blackouts across many parts of the country as states struggle to manage record demand for electricity and low feedstock at power plants. From Jammu and Kashmir to Andhra Pradesh, consumers are facing power cuts ranging from 2 hours to 8 hours. Factories are the worst hit as the industrial sector is the first port of call for regulating electricity supplies.

After the hottest March on record, a large part of the country continue to experience extreme heat in April, sending power demand to an all-time high. The total electricity shortage in the country has hit 623 million units, surpassing the total shortage in March.

At the heart of the crisis are low inventories of coal — the fossil fuel that produces 70 per cent of India’s electricity. While the government insists that there is enough coal available to meet the demand, the reduced availability of railway rakes to transport coal has led to coal inventories being at the lowest pre-summer levels in at least nine years. Also, with international energy prices shooting up following the war in Ukraine, coal imports have dipped.

Besides measures to increase coal supplies to power plants, the Union government has asked states to step up coal imports for the next three years to build up inventories. Thermal plants across the country are grappling with coal shortages, indicating a looming power crisis in the country, All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) said.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Thursday that the country’s thermal plants hold about 22 million tonnes of coal which is enough for 10 days and replenishment will be done continuously.
The minister referred to thermal plants not working to their full capacity due to the surge in prices of imported coal. He said the power ministry has given requisite directions to the thermal power plants.

“Since gas-based power plant got shut, imported prices hiked, no plant functioned at full capacity. Power Ministry has given directions to start it…our thermal power plants hold 21-22mn tonnes coal, enough for 10 days. Replenishment to be done continuously,” Joshi said.

Latest data showed that 147 non-pit head plants with total capacity of over 163 GW monitored by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) had 25 per cent of the normative coal stocks on April 26. These plants had 14,172 thousand tonnes of coal against the norm of 57,033 thousand tonnes.