New Delhi : With power demand growing at 10% per year in the nation, the Union Ministry of Energy has the major task of ensuring an adequate power supply throughout the country. Such a task becomes more concerning when summer comes around and the nation witnesses a sudden rise in the consumption of electricity.
To prevent any occurrence of blackouts and to ensure a constant and sufficient supply of electricity in crucial months of summer, the Union Minister for Power and NRE, R.K. Singh, chaired a review meeting on March 7th, 2023, alongside the senior officers from the Power sector, Ministry of Coal, and Ministry of Railways, to discuss a proclaimed dynamic strategy to meet up the energy demands in the coming months.
As the thermal power plants account for more than 70% of the total energy produced in India, the Union has already asked all imported coal-based power plants in the nation to operate at full capacity from the 16th of this month and to complete maintenance before that to avoid any loss of time during the crunch period. In addition, a total of 2920 MW will soon be added to coal-based energy as soon as two units at Barauni get commissioned.
To fulfill an expected demand of 229 GW at its peak during the months of April, the Union Ministry of Electricity has not been leaving any chance of gaining supply, and thus they have directed NTPC to run its 5000 MW gas-based power stations, which would be backed by 4000 MW of additional gas-based power capacity generated by other entities.
Along with coal and gas, 197 hydropower plants throughout the country are directed to operate in consultation with the respective Regional/State Load Dispatch Centers they belong to, as it would avoid any wastage of water in the production of electricity.
A developing nation like India has a very volatile nature of production and consumption of electricity, where a total difference of more than 17% in demand for electricity is expected between winters and summers, and the monsoon works as a cooling-off period for energy industries after heavy production in summer and the comparatively less demanding season of winter. Though besides all of this, the Indian energy sector runs 24/7 and fulfills the basic need for electricity for a population that, in the 21st century, is considered to be the largest in the world.