India faces 8 hour long power blackouts in scorching heat

Power crisis is real this summer in India. The concerns have been looming amid coal shortage in the country as the rising mercury breaks all records. Thermal power plants have been struggling amid coal shortage as power crisis concerns have been increasing, according to a warning issued by the All India Engineers Federation (AIPEF).

“Thermal plants across the country are grappling with a coal shortage as the power demand in the states has increased, and a number of states are not able to bridge the gap between demand and supply because of insufficient coal stocks at thermal plants,” AIPEF spokesperson VK Gupta said in a statement.

The increasing temperatures have in turn surged the electricity demand across India. The power crisis has pushed many states to daily cut electricity supply to the households. The emergency is so severe that certain states are facing power blackouts for as long as eight hours.

Which states are facing the worst power blackouts?

The states that are facing the longest power blackouts due to extreme coal shortages include:

• Andhra Pradesh
• Haryana
• Uttar Pradesh
• Punjab
• Gujarat
• Jharkhand

The domestic power demand had hit a 38 year high for the month during first half of April, 2022. “While there was 1.1 per cent power shortage in October 2021, this shortfall shot up to 1.4 per cent in April 2022,” AIPEF Chairman Shailendra Dubey said.

According to the report of Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the coal stock is at critical levels in 81 out of 150 thermal power stations across India. The private sector thermal plants are also experiencing similar coal crisis. Out of 54 thermal power plants in India in private sector, 28 are at critical levels of coal. The worst situation is reportedly in states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in the northern region.