Power cuts have begun affecting homes, smaller manufacturing units, and steel producers across the country, driven by thinning coal stockpiles at numerous generation facilities at a time when rising temperatures are pushing electricity consumption upward while hydropower contributions have fallen considerably.
Electricity consumption has outpaced available generation capacity over the past several weeks, with the resulting shortfall prompting rolling outages that have affected residential areas along with smaller industrial operations, including factories and smelters, according to broadcaster reports.
An El Niño event of record intensity has left India with its driest monsoon in ten years while pushing temperatures beyond what is typical for this period. The added pressure on electricity supply comes at a point when below-average rainfall has reduced output from hydropower facilities and fuel reserves at numerous coal-fired plants have fallen to notably low levels.
Government figures released at the end of September showed that more than four in ten operational coal-fired plants across India were running on fuel stocks that had fallen to dangerously depleted levels, a proportion that had climbed noticeably over the preceding weeks.
A quarterly review of India's power sector covering July through September, published by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), found that up to 85 thermal plants were carrying coal inventories below one-quarter of their normative levels by 1 October, pointing to mounting strain across the fuel supply network.
Elevated temperatures linked to a pronounced El Niño cycle have placed mounting strain on coal stockpiles that power stations are drawing down at an accelerated rate, compounded by reduced hydropower generation and a rise in electricity demand. Pressure on coal inventories and coal-dependent power generation has begun feeding through into broader economic activity, according to representatives from within the industry who spoke to a television news outlet.
Daily power cuts of between 10 and 12 hours are curtailing output at smaller steel facilities across Chhattisgarh, according to Manish Dhuppad, who serves as general secretary of the Chhattisgarh Mini Steel Plant Association and conveyed the situation to a television news outlet. Factories and steel mills facing outages have had to fall back on generator-based power, with the fuel costs involved pushing their overall energy bills upward.
Domestic budgets face the same pressures. Across Uttar Pradesh — a northern Indian state whose population of over 240 million makes it the country's most densely settled — certain rural communities are contending with power outages that can stretch to seven hours within a single day.
