Power outages grip states amid scorching heat

Several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, and Odisha, have been grappling with severe power outages because of soaring temperatures and the resulting surge in power consumption. Parts of the national capital have also seen frequent power cuts, although officials attribute it to local faults.

After a relatively mild May due to unseasonal rains, temperatures have soared since the start of June, leading to a significant surge in power demand. On 9 June, the peak power demand reached a record 223GW, resulting in a peak shortage of 189MW. Last year’s record stood at 216GW.

The latest data from the Grid Controller of India shows that on Monday, 13 June, the peak power demand rose to 218.67GW, with a peak shortage of 385MW. The peak demand was logged at 2.45pm, the data showed.

The peak power demand is expected to hit 230GW this year.

In Delhi, power demand surpassed the 7GW mark on Tuesday as it touched 7,098MW at 3.29pm.

An official with BSES, a discom, said in the areas operated by its subsidiaries, BSES Rajdhani Pvt. Ltd (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Pvt. Ltd (BYPL), the peak power demand clocked on Tuesday was 3,103MW and 1,615MW, respectively, which the units successfully met.

The discom official, who did not want to be named, said that BSES discoms are geared up to ensure reliable power supply to meet the power demand of 20 million residents in Delhi. “These arrangements include long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) and banking arrangements with other states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. BSES discoms will get up to 630MW (BRPL up to 330 MW, BYPL up to 300 MW) of power through banking arrangements,” the official said.

Further, BRPL will also procure up to 500MW through bilateral contracts. In case of any unforeseeable contingency, BSES discoms would buy short-term power from the exchange, depending on the time slot.

According to the latest outage report released by BRPL for 6 June, most of the instances of power outages in the city ranging up to an hour were because of tripping, local cable and transformer faults and other issues. However, about six instances of planned shutdowns were reported for 1-3 hours on that day.

Residents of Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar in the national capital region (NCR) are also witnessing hours-long power cuts. Residents in Delhi-NCR have been venting their anger on the outages on social media. In April, Delhi power minister Atishi directed officials to resolve every minor issue faced in electricity distribution to ensure there are absolutely no outages across the city.

Experts said that the power demand in the country is likely to ease in the coming days after the arrival of the monsoon. Demand is already easing in the southern states where rains have set in, and the outages are largely an issue in the northern states currently.

“Coal availability is not an issue this year. Power plants have a stock of 13 days on average. Gencos (power generating companies) in few states may have a lower coal inventory compared to the national average,” said Vikram V., vice-president and sector head of corporate ratings at Icra Ltd.

The central government has tried to ensure adequate availability of domestic and imported coal this year to avert a crisis situation as was witnessed last year.

On Monday, the power ministry directed all imported coal-based power plants to operate at full capacity till September in the wake of the surging power demand.

In February, the ministry invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act with effect from 16 March for three months. The order is valid till 15 June.

The extension comes against the backdrop of peak power demand in the country touching a new record on Friday.

Earlier this year, the ministry had directed 6% blending of imported coal by power producers till September.