Kejriwal has asked for the PM’s intervention to resolve the crisis at the earliest NEW DELHI: Power minister Satyendar Jain has warned of a blackout in Delhi after two days if coal supplies to the coal-fired power plants do not improve immediately.
Delhi and other parts of the country are on the brink of a power crisis as coal supplies to the power plants are dwindling, says the Delhi government.Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi on Saturday, seeking his personal intervention to solve the crisis at the earliest so that a blackout can be averted.
“The whole country is facing a coal crisis due to which power plants are not able to function properly,” said Jain on Saturday, after attending an emergency meeting for reviewing the power situation in the capital.“All the power plants that supply electricity to Delhi are supposed to keep 30-day reserve stocks of coal but at present have only one day of stocks left.The power plants are not able to produce the required amount of electricity.Even the hydroelectric power plants are not running at full capacity.If they are run at full capacity at least during peak hours, it will be a huge relief.”
The chief minister is keeping a watch on the situation and the Aam Aadmi Party government says it is trying its best to avoid a crisis.The coal shortage situation has prevailed for the past three months and has affected power generation at the major central plants that supply power to the capital, Kejriwal said in the letter.
Jain said the crisis appears to be man-made because neither the coal-fired power plants, nor the gas-based ones are getting supplies despite the country having three-and-a-half times higher coal production capacity as compared to the demand.“There is politics.
If you create a crisis and solve it, it appears that some great work has been done.On Friday, the gas supply to the Bawana power plant was suddenly stopped by the Centre,” Jain said.
Delhi produces very little power and purchases most of it from power plants located outside the capital.“Most of the power is procured from the central government’s NTPC, where coal reserves have to be kept for at least one month.That has come down to a day.We appeal to the Centre to arrange railway wagons and transport coal to these power plants at the earliest and ensure that coal reserves of at least one month are maintained.Along with this, all the power plants of the country should be run at 100 per cent capacity.
Delhi may face a blackout if the supplies are not resumed at the earliest,” Jain said.
The minister pointed out that there are three power plants in Delhi and the Delhi government will ensure that they produce the amount of electricity that they can, irrespective of the rate.The Delhi government is trying to fulfil the city’s needs by purchasing power by any means and at any rate.
NTPC is providing only half of its committed supply to the Delhi government, the minister said.He added that the Delhi government was procuring electricity on the spot at exorbitant rates to avert a crisis.
Because of this situation, “the dependency on gas stations supplying power to Delhi increases.However, the gas plants…do not have adequate APM gas to run at full capacity,” said the CM, adding that if this situation continued, it would severely impact the power supply situation in Delhi.
Kejriwal has asked for the PM’s intervention to resolve the crisis at the earliest, requesting that adequate coal supplies may be diverted from other plants to plants like Dadri-II and Jhajjar TPS, which are supplying to the capital.APM gas may be allocated to plants like Bawana, Pragati—I and GTPS supplying power to Delhi and adequate quantity of NAPM gas be supplied to power stations in Delhi.
The maximum rate of power sold in any slot through the exchange, currently at Rs 20 per unit, may be suitably capped to discourage profiteering by traders/generators from the current crisis, the CM has requested.
“The above measures are essential to maintain uninterrupted power in Delhi which is catering to strategic and important installations of national importance apart from supplying power to essential services like the cold chains for the vaccination drives, hospitals, health care centres, Covid care centres etc,” Kejriwal stated.
“Kindly issue necessary instructions to the concerned ministries and offices for addressing the above suggested steps in resolving the current crisis at the earliest but also take steps to avoid such a situation in future,” Kejriwal said in his letter.
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