Need for positive, clear-headed reform measures
Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra… no, this is not a listing of States with high growth. These are States that imposed rolling power cuts as late as in October, well after autumn had set in.
In fact, Tamil Nadu still has power cuts for periods ranging from 1-3 hours across the state. So, what's new, you might ask. Aren't power outages a fact of life in India?
Well, the difference this time is that it is happening not during the height of summer but during winter, a period of relatively low demand. Second, the duration of the power cuts is longer than what was faced during the summer.
The frightening fact though is that this could just be a taste of things to come unless the government takes corrective policy measures to clean up the mess in the power sector. What ails the industry?
There are two mainly. First, a conundrum over fuel, which, even a couple of years ago was non-existent. And second, a mess created by the inability of state electricity boards and distribution utilities to charge consumers the right price for the electricity they consume leading to losses.
Fuel trouble
As a country we may be tapping every available source of power generation but sadly all those sources are mired in problems either due to faulty policies or resource constraints or simply inept implementation. Thermal power is the most critical for India (see accompanying graphic), yet that is where we seem to have messed up the most.
Thanks to protective policies on coal mining in the country, coal output is unable to keep pace with the growth requirements in power. In the first four years of the current Plan period ending 2012, coal demand, mainly for power generation, grew by 7.3 per cent but coal output grew by just 5.4 per cent.
In the coming XII Plan period (2012-17), the projected coal deficit is 200 million tonnes and the sector to suffer the most will be power generation. Though 194 blocks have been allotted for coal production to public and private companies, only 28 have commenced production. This is mainly due to problems of environmental clearances and “no-go” policies for mining.
Imports were an option till recently, but not anymore. Countries such as Indonesia that have large coal reserves are clamping down on exports and making it more expensive and difficult for buyers. Indian companies such as Tata Power, Reliance Power, the Adanis and others who have a toehold there are now finding their toes crushed by the weight of the Indonesian government's policy to tax exports.
The options are just two: push domestic coal output in a big way through positive policies and second, brace ourselves for high cost coal imports, wherever they are available. With more than half of thegenerating capacity being coal-fired, the country just cannot afford to go wrong here.
Gassed out
The technical problems that Reliance Industries is reported to be facing in the KG Basin have affected gas-based generation. Gas output from the KG Basin now is less than half of what was projected as possible by Reliance and even this is being supplied to fertiliser companies on priority basis. Imported gas is an option but it is expensive.
The hope is that Reliance will be able to surmount the problems in the near term and gas output will rise again. But even if it does, the gas-based generation capacity available now may not be enough to substitute for the shortfall from coal-based generation.
Hydro dam(ned)
Hydel power, supposed to be environmentally-friendly, has ironically run into trouble with the green lobby. NTPC was forced to halt work on two of its projects in Uttarakhand after pressure from environmentalists. Even last week there were protests in Assam against a large hydro project, Subansiri, being executed by NHPC in Arunachal Pradesh. Hydel projects have always been sensitive anyway due to submergence of land.
If we thought that nuclear power will be our long-term saviour that hope is also now fading away. The imbroglio over supplier liability clauses means that American companies are unable to commence business for reactor supplies. With the performance of the French EPR reactor being questioned after the experience in Finland where it ran into time and cost overruns, it appears unlikely that the first of the planned ones at Jaitapur will ever take off.
The public protests against nuclear power at Jaitapur and lately, in Kudankulam, also mean that progress will be slow and painful in future. Public opinion is veering around against nuclear power post-Fukushima and the example of Germany, which will be totally off nuclear power by 2021, is being widely quoted as an example for us to move away too.
Financial mess
Part reason for the fuel trouble may lie outside our control but the same cannot be said for the financial mess that the sector is in today which is entirely due to our governments, Central and State. State electricity boards are estimated to have accumulated losses of a massive Rs.70,000 crore. Ratings agency Crisil estimates that distribution utilities alone had a cumulative loss of between Rs.35,000 crore and Rs.40,000 crore as of 2010-11.
Riding on government backing, the state electricity boards have been borrowing merrily from banks to sew up the gaping holes in their finances due to these massive losses. And the hole is only growing bigger. Banks, after initially accommodating the state electricity boards have now grown wiser and are refusing to lend.
According to a Crisil report, the total debt of state electricity boards and distribution utilities touched a huge Rs.3-lakh crore or Rs.3 trillion as of March 31, 2011. The same report estimates that as much as a third of the 56,000 MW of thermal generation capacity is in trouble due to the combined impact of fuel and financial problems.
So where does all this leave us? Hopefully not in darkness. We need positive, clear-headed reform measures to be undertaken, including passing on full prices to consumers who can bear them and subsidising the genuinely poor. Some States have reluctantly allowed their boards to revise power prices in the last few weeks.
We need to cut down on transmission and distribution losses and untangle the environmental problems that coal mining has run into. Policymakers have to balance the needs of development with environmental considerations. But for some urgent steps from the government the country may well return to the Dark Ages, literally.
Keywords: Indian economy, power cuts, power shortage, electricity boards, coal reserves, power generation
Dear fellow Citizens
I was one of the victim/witness of the recent cyclone Thane in Pondicherry.We were without power for six days and the sufferings we met cannot be spelt out/expressed by any words. It was a BAD new year for us.
Such was the agony. No power,no comunication,no safe water to drink, no milk,no petrol,no mobile ringing sound with mosquitoes all around we spent sleepless nights, totally shut off from the external world. Friends "Without power we cannot live" is the reality today.
Every walk of life has its own risk. Without taking risk how can we survive in this competitive world. A humble request let us allow the Government to commission the Kudankulam project and enlighten the society and our future generations.Let us wholeheartedly give GREEN signal to Nuclear power.
My suggestion is that (1) Government should encourage energy efficiency, for example, Houses that change to LED lighting should have subsidized tax (2) Government should encourage decentralized power generation and consumers becoming co-suppliers to deliver power to grid when they generate excess power using renewable sources (3) Power delivery should be rationed to homes instead of abruptly cutting it for considerable hours which mainly creates discomfort to homes with aged and children (4) Tariffs should vary based on power level drawn by a consumer (5) Country level technology research centres should be put to full steam to fill the technical gaps in the points raised viz., efficient nuclear waste disposal or develop carbon capture technologies to make fossil fuels atleast partially clean. I am sure such applied research drive and apt policy changes will give a positive hope to meet the power demand.
What's wrong if we don't have electric power tomorrow? Human beings have been without electric power for most of history. Perhaps we need to seriously reconsider Gandhiji's ideas of living within our means, and without excessive dependence on machinery.
I am surprised, Why Gujarat is not mentioned? This is one of the state were rain is too little. Still we have 3-phase connection even in the villages and not a single powercut situation in the last 5 years at least. Why cant other states learn from us? btw am from Vadodara.
use solar power,solar mirrors for heating water and then using that water for turbines(cheap/not costly way)(large scale project means large big/major one at state level), solar cell with battery to power houses at day and at night(high cost)(small scale project and more small number of units), invest money in extracting that solar power for use of people, Solar energy is free or no cost, how many days a year u get sun 365/2=182/2=91 day .approx. half for night an half for rainy and cold season.half year with day. just think.91*24=2184 hrs.usable light 728 hrs. Means it is not a bad idea to use those expected ,unexpected hours for benefit of india. solar mirrors way is the cheapest way to trap energy and heat water.just think.
I blame mr shinde for the mess he has created in power sector. gov is too busy in protecting itself from corruption charges that they have literally forgotten their job . I live in Hyderabad and here in high tech city we are facing power cuts from 4 to 5 hrs on daily basics. This is condition of leading cities Of india then we can imagine what will be the condition in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
Shreeman Mahadev should be honoured with noble prize for new invention of generating a "earth shattering"and "path breaking" idea of generation parks with people pulling the wheels, raths or what not, for generating power! WHAT AN IDEA SIR JI!
But one simple suggestion to our scientist in the making : Let this idea be practiced & be implemented in his home first and then, as one reader suggested above, let him surrender his electricity connection back to Electricity Board! Afterall, we should practice what we preach!!
I am from kerala, we never had powercuts, the last five years.
1. A few bad days and it's a dark age? Now I know we are really like Americans- we start screaming night when it is only dusk. 2. Gas is more expensive everywhere but in no country did we see so many street protests - like a kid shouting "not fair"!! Face the reality. 3. I think the rupee is getting right priced at last- we've been printing so much of it, and giving inflated salaries to anyone MBA. 4. It's good we are finally stopping to kid ourselves about our big arrival on the world stage, it's just that we are not there as yet. 5. Our golden age is still ahead of us, but more like in 25 years, not 5.
Blindly advocating nuclear power is not the solution to India's energy crisis. Those who think Fukushima was not a big deal should read about the expected cost of cleaning up the infected sites, expected to be in billions of USD. Clearly, nuclear power is not cheap. What would you prefer? Living in darkness or living in the spectre of nuclear disaster? I much prefer the former. Having said that, there is enough inefficiency in the pricing, consumption and distribution of energy in India. If power generation companies run into debt, who finances them? Ultimately, it is the taxpayer. So why not price energy at a level which is sustainable? Remove subsidies that have created huge incentives for energy theft. Reduce energy theft. Enhance distribution efficiency.
Wow! Many readers above all fancied ideas of power generation. Not sure, whether these ideas are really intended out of their concern for generation of power or just to vent out their anger against Koodankulam & nuke power. Some readers have even dared to question the very need of electricity. Ok, fine, if they don't feel the need of electricity, like we all say, charity should begin with home & let all these anti-nuke crusaders & their sympathisers above should surrender their electricity connection & start living without electricity!
Is it practical? Ofcourse not,becoz, they'll not be able to post all these utter gibberish - nonsense in the name of love for mankind, humanity and peace. This talk is all bogus. Those who say donot want electricty are precisely the people who crib whenever power cuts are imposed! Stop preaching about safe food, safe air et all. If some body is really concious about the safe air, then nuke power is the ultimate clean&green form of energy. Is TN listening ?
This is a nice idea... thanks Mahadev N. Instead of making the rats run in the wheel let the Indians run inside the wheels to create energy :) they will slim down and create energy as well :P
medium and upper economic class people should use compulsorily solar lamps and govt can subsidize such items, by this we can save lot of energy.in areas with co-generation facility some arrangement can be made to utilize its potential.some power generation parks can be installed wherein people who run,jog ,etc in morning hours can voluntarily come and contribute to national power grid by pulling the wheel(just as we indians pull the chariots ,rathsetc).no need to rush for the nuclear energy.human power can be harnessed.(suitable technologies to be developed).
People are using Room Heaters more day by day. Power theft and high
demand are the main reasons for high consumptions.
When there is no safe food to eat, no safe water to drink and no safe air to breathe what will we do with electricity??? Instead of thanking our Creator for having spared our beloved country from the devastation faced by the Japanese who now have to go to special stores to measure how much radiation their food contains, whose children cry themselves to sleep at night as they can't play outdoors, who live daily with the fear of how soon the cancer will set in and take their precious lives, here we are complaining about the lack of electricity. Please check the net. There are plenty of options to provide yourself with your own electricity generating system (solar or wind) but please do not make the mistake of taking your precious environment for granted and subjecting your country to the risk of a meltdown. First let the nuclear industry find a solution for a meltdown, and a safe, economically viable way of disposing of dangerous nuclear wastes before starting up new nuclear plants.
We provide coal and we get dark(no electric) and pollution .Who will speak for us ?I know there is no answer of this question
It would be great if the author along with the problem faced by most of the state electricity board had given an example of how Gujarat electricity board has been able to remain in green in spite of all the negative development activities going on at Centre
It is under these constrained resources that we can not afford to
loose any option including nuclear. It is paradoxical that souther
region is starved of electricity and 2000 MW capacity completed in all
respects is stalled for commissioning. In Fukushima reactor accident
there has been no fatality or a case of exposure in public domain. The
reactors at Kudankulam are modern and have in built state of the art
safety features. Considerable discussions have already gone in to ally
the fears of the adjoining population. Of all the electricity
generating technologies,nuclear continues to be safest. There has been
7700 deaths in India in coal mining in last four decades. None in case
on nuclear. We should see the stress on safety nuclear industry puts
in not derail the programme because an accident has happened. On the
other hand the accident should tell us new learnings to further
enhance.
The generation data given is for capacity in MW and not for generation. The target for 2011-12, to generate 855 BUs, the hydro
share at 120 BUs is about 13%. The nuclear target is 25 BU and having
produced close to this number so far, the actual contribution will be
32 BUs. Thermal power continues to be largest share at some 83%. In a
world where coal trade is limited to 600 miilion tones, to expect that
We can import 200 MT is living in darkness.So this does leave us in
darkness and it is happening faster than expected. In India there is a
large population without electricity or not in required quantity. This sizable section is also growing. That implies that there is a model
for growth with reduced energy consumption. Unless this is
rediscovered, no amount of fossil fuels, however large can rescue us.
we need to live with less energy and particularly with use of energy
in the form of electricity minimized. Electricity being the most
inefficient use of energy
Power cuts all over India!
So, what's new ?
Who's worried ? Public or Powers that be?
Tamilnadu government even passes a resolution to suspend the commissioning works of India's biggest ever Power Project, which would have fed 1000 MW power to the grid!
Yet, we all seem to be not concerned and mute spectator to the tamasha going on !.
Afterall, it's the 'janta janardhan' who's the worst hit due to the power cuts!
C'mon Indians, rise above your narrow interests and join in nation building, which should start with electricity development of all forms of energy including Nuclear Energy & removing power cuts from the lexicon of Indian Power scenario!
Yes; In Coimbatore, it is two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. Four hours per day on all the seven days a week.
The write up timely makes everyone to sit up & take note of ominous times ahead, unless serious & urgent steps are taken to address the power deficit all over India. One humbly hopes, it’s not just our policy makers, but even our ubiquitous common man would come out open and speak his mind out, after all power cuts affects our day to day life. A growing economy like India cannot afford this power sector paralysis, be it related to coal fired plants or nuclear power plants like Kudankulam.
Solution clearly lies with augmentation of Nuclear Power Programmes, as fossil fuel based thermal plants are facing fuel shortage, our coals reserves are fast depleting, import costs are rising, hydel plants are opposed by green lobby & environmentalists, wind & solar are still not reliable enough. What’s the solution then ? Unless urgent steps are taken, these power cuts may paralyse the nation in the years to come. It’s time India & Indians wake up before the imminent dark-age descends upon us!
You mentioned that Tamil Nadu still has power cuts for periods 1-3, well I live at Mahindra World City South of Chennai and our power cuts are at least 5 hours a day 7 days a week so how come this isn't mentioned.
India should go ahead with mining coal for electricity genenation like China without bogdown with Emission. New Electricity generating plant if built to standard, should satisfy the Environmental need. As for mining coal and making World Class profits and return on invested capital, reasonable method of bond financiing may be and should be adopted. Electricity, water, etc are not commodity like Cotton/Coffee/ Tea/ Beer etc. Like other parts of the world the energy prices needed to regulated thoroughly and the production of costs of electricity is brought under control then It will reasonable to ask rate payer for true prices. Same goes for transmission etc. India has enough people to get this done provided Indian people are not treated as profit center. High inflation- overcharging for products are the big kllers of India's progress. Some how we have to reversed this. Private actors also have to behave like in European Countries where profits is controlled Energy Areas. India can do it
politically incorrect and ineffective government and its policies in most departments have caused all maladies and are continuing..india soon will be going back to the pre 1990 period..thanks to the subserving government and non nationalist opposition parties..
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