India has been hit by an unprecedented power crisis. Shortages every-where; Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka… all in deficit and struggling to cope with  rising demand for power. The entire northern belt is in the grip of power shortage. It is difficult to meet the demand of some of the southern states through the grid. More states are likely to come up with shortages putting greater pressure on the grid.

The power situation in the country has not been more dismal than today. Maharashtra has enforced a steep cut of 40 per cent. Tamil Nadu has demanded release of 300 MW power from the Central pool to the state. State chief minister M Karunanidhi made this demand to the prime minister and the power minister during his recent visit to the capital. The Centre is not likely to release more than 100 MW of power to the state, as the northern state’s contribution to the pool is not significant.

Delhi's peak demand has hit over 4034 MW this July against 3840 MW same time last year.  The capital is in deficit by several hundred MWs. Who will give this power  is a million dollar question because the northern states such as Uttar Pradesh are themselves troubled with a tight power situation. When power cannot be transferred through the national grid as the supply is not adequate, states would have to manage the situation through power cuts, load shedding… which is what they are resorting to, Maharashtra being the worst-case scenario.

Need for another70 000 MW
 Power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has claimed that various initiatives, including a change in the policy for hydro electricity generation, are being taken to meet the requirement. Shinde said that special attention was being paid to ensure regular supply of electricity in major metropolises like Delhi and Mumbai, as it can send an adverse message internationally. There is a shortage of 70,000 MW of power at present and steps are being taken in the Eleventh Plan to correct the situation.  

The potential for hydropower generation in the country is 1.5 lakh MW, but merely 20 per cent of it is exploited. Setting up of power plants in hilly regions entails difficulties and unless attractive incentives are provided, private parties may not come forward.

So the government has decided to change the policy for hydropower generation, Shinde said. He recently held a meeting with the chief ministers and discussed measures to meet the shortage. In an agreement signed with the Himachal Pradesh government recently, an addition of  15,000 MW of hydel power has been planned.
 
Severe shortages in Gujarat,  Maharashtra… 
In Gujarat, due to power shortage, non-continuous processing industries across the state have been asked to observe weekly off on two consecutive days.

Gujarat energy minister Saurabh Patel said: "non-availability of gas to gas-based power stations located across the state, has reduced power generation by 500 MW and the gap between demand and supply has increased to 1000 MW." The demand of power from the farm sector has been going up due to erratic monsoon. Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) has not been getting 500MW of power from the various players who are not in a position to supply power. GUVNL was also not in a position to get hydropower from its two hydro-based power stations located in Kadana and Ukai, as water level in the reservoirs is low and they are not in a position to generate 540 MW of power. Gujarat's allocated share of power from the 1450 MW hydro power station at Sardar Sarovar dam across Narmada River has also been affected due to restrictions on release of water from the dam on account of low level of water in the reservoir.

Lack of rainfall in Maharashtra is now causing concern for the industrial belt in Pune, facing a one day shutdown every week. This decision has been taken by the Maharashtra Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL). Power supply to all the industrial areas would be cut off except for the express feeders in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and for the continuous process industries.

According to Anant Sardeshmukh, additional director-general, Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), a shortage of about 5000 MW is definitely a negative factor for all the industrial units, especially in this critical phase of the economy. This would have a cascading effect on other services, he warned.

There is acute shortage of power almost all over the country; even on the power exchanges there are only buyers and no sellers. Even if one decides to buy at a high price, one will not be successful.  Coal supply has also  diminished because of the rainy season. Many generators eare under maintenance and hence not operational; all these have contributed to the acute  shortage.

Maharashtra's current demand is around 12,761 MW. Total generation, including the supply from Centre and the Ratnagiri Power Co. (Dabhol Power), generation capacity is around 8777 MW. Taking into account the losses, load shedding will have to be of  the order of 2284 MW.

Power shortage is symptomatic of a larger malaise: while the reforms brought about the desired changes in the financial  and telecom sectors, the power sector had woefully lagged behind. Power reforms were also put into process in the reverse gear - addressing generation reforms first instead of attending to distribution and transmission inadequacies..

The much bandied fast track power projects did not take off. Power utilities, which took the short cut to reduce gestation periods of thermal stations and went for combined cycle projects involving gas, were hit by shortage of gas. State electricity boards are still plagued with mounting losses caused by agricultural subsidies not reimbursed by the state governments. Many states are yet to implement the recommendations of the power minister's conferences, which insist on minimum agricultural tariff of 50 paise per unit. Tamil Nadu, which initiated the practice of supplying power free to the farm sector in 1989, has not been able to generate needed resources to invest on fresh capacity: additions averaged just around 100 MW per annum during 1990-2006. The state is reeling under severe shortages today.

Private sector accounts for just 10 per cent…
Power sector, which had been funded mainly through budgetary support and external borrowings, was opened to the private sector in 1991. The state and Central government sectors account for 58 per cent and 32 per cent of the generation capacity respectively while the private sector accounts for only about 10 per cent of capacity created. Bulk of the transmission and distribution functions are with state utilities. The private sector has a small but growing presence in distribution and is making an entry into transmission.

Growth of power sector infrastructure in India since  Independence has been rather slow though India is the third largest producer of electricity in Asia. Generating capacity has grown from 1362 MW in 1947 to  around 140,000 MW today. The over all generation in India has increased from 301 billion units (BUs) during 1992- 93 to 666 BUs in 2007- 08.

'Power for all' a far cry
But the challenges are enormous. By 2012 the peak demand for power is expected to reach 157,107 MW with energy requirement of at least 975 billion units. 'The power for all' plan of the UP government envisages an installed capacity of 200,000 MW which still seems a pipe dream judging the pace of second generation reforms and the states' apathy towards the subject.

For increasing availability of electricity, India has adopted a blend of thermal, hydel and nuclear sources. Out of these, coal based thermal power plants and in some regions, hydropower plants, have been the mainstay of electricity generation. Oil, natural gas and nuclear power account for a small proportion. Of late, emphasis is also being laid on non-conventional energy sources ie. solar, wind and tidal. But the progress on non-conventional sources of energy is very small. India's annual per capita consumption, at about 580 kWh is among the lowest in the world. And for this the problem can be traced to:

• Inadequate power generation capacity
• lack of optimum utilisation of the existing generation capacity
• inadequate inter-regional transmission links
• inadequate and ageing sub-transmission and distribution network leading to power cuts and local failures/faults
• T&D losses, large scale theft and skewed tariff structure
• slow pace of rural electrification
• inefficient use of electricity by the end consumer
• lack of grid discipline