India's Power Demand Hits New Peak - Coal Import by Coal India
Coal India (CIL) has floated an e-tender for coal import. India's power demand has hit a new peak.
Pause in the monsoon's progress and rise in economic activities have pushed peak power demand to a fresh record (209.8GW).
Heatwaves continue due to (i) delay in monsoon arrival and (ii) expanding economic activities.
Higher thermal generation is made possible by increasing the coal availability resulting in prevention of power cuts from getting longer.
A mismatch is created between the pace at which coal is consumed at power plants and replenishments reach them.
Though coal import is an uncharted terrain of Coal India, the government has nominated CIL as a centralizing agency to augment coal supplies at a time when the demand for coal is high. Coal is being sourced for state generating companies(gencos) and independent power plants(IPP).
The large appetite for batteries from surging EV market has slowed the ability of batteries to accelerate transition to decarbonise the power sector. battery storage needs to reach 585 GW by 2030 to decarbonise the global power sector, a 35-fold rise from 2020, says IEA(International Energy Agency). Storing power is considered vital to the expansion of solar and wind energy because it allows electricity generated when sun is shinning or wind is blowing to be used at the end of the day when consumers need it most.
Plans to replace fossil fuel with wind and solar energy are scuttled due to delay or scrapping of several big battery projects meant to store electrical power in recent months.
More European nations and international automotive OEMs are investing in their commitments to vehicle electrification and eMobility. This propels momentum forward, with unparalled R&D efforts that help drive outcomes and supports the next generation of electric vehicle batteries. more
Pause in the monsoon's progress and rise in economic activities have pushed peak power demand to a fresh record (209.8GW).
Heatwaves continue due to (i) delay in monsoon arrival and (ii) expanding economic activities.
Higher thermal generation is made possible by increasing the coal availability resulting in prevention of power cuts from getting longer.
A mismatch is created between the pace at which coal is consumed at power plants and replenishments reach them.
Though coal import is an uncharted terrain of Coal India, the government has nominated CIL as a centralizing agency to augment coal supplies at a time when the demand for coal is high. Coal is being sourced for state generating companies(gencos) and independent power plants(IPP).
The large appetite for batteries from surging EV market has slowed the ability of batteries to accelerate transition to decarbonise the power sector. battery storage needs to reach 585 GW by 2030 to decarbonise the global power sector, a 35-fold rise from 2020, says IEA(International Energy Agency). Storing power is considered vital to the expansion of solar and wind energy because it allows electricity generated when sun is shinning or wind is blowing to be used at the end of the day when consumers need it most.
Plans to replace fossil fuel with wind and solar energy are scuttled due to delay or scrapping of several big battery projects meant to store electrical power in recent months.
More European nations and international automotive OEMs are investing in their commitments to vehicle electrification and eMobility. This propels momentum forward, with unparalled R&D efforts that help drive outcomes and supports the next generation of electric vehicle batteries. more
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The extent of ash content in mined coal remains same more or less. Now choice can be split into two: (i) If you prefer coal washeries, ash content is divided into two locations - washeries and power plant. (ii) If unwashed coal is used in power plant, ash content is handled at only only one place,i.e the power plant. Better technology can equip TPPs (thermal power plants) to manage fly ash and emission norms. But what is found is that TPPs, with their stressed finances, low water availability and fuel supply, are unable to bear the environmental costs. Between the government's permissiveness on coal use and TPPs impunity to flout pollution norms, coal washeries have emerged as the bridge to address coal efficiency, and air,land and water pollution by coal power. Fly ash is the waste generated by use if dirty coal in TPPs. Ash ponds, where fly ash is collected, can inundate large areas with toxic materials that can render farmlands and water bodies polluted on a large scale. Evidence may show that fly ash management by TPPs has failed and environmental ministry drags its feet on implementing emission standards. Though there are a few and piece-meal responses from judicial agencies to these issues that affect millions of people and their environment in India's coal bearing states, large scale violation of environmental laws continue. The spread of unmanaged fly ash can turn some of the rice growing regions of India into wastelands. Use of coal will continue for some more years because it is enmeshed in the political economy of development. Use of low grade coal for power generation is dangerous and discriminatory. By denying - and refusing to remedy - the governance problems of coal use and allowing rogue coal power plants to bypass washeries, the environment ministry can put on the line the lives of the poorest people residing in the country's coal enclave. more
Jun 20
There are various coal washing processes. Use of water only to wash coal rarely gives the desired result as water density doesnot match so well with that of India origin coal. India origin coal reportedly have specific density somewhere in the range of 1.4-1.6 and so the washing media, if have the density in that range, good quality coal can be separated from reject coal. State of the art Gauge meters help control the density of heavy media as per the requirements of coal clients, for example. Thus coal washeries can wash and supply clean coal as per the quality and yield to their clients. A few of coal washeries using the technology to wash coal are however operating in private domain and can be found in the state of Chhattisgarh. more
Jun 17
Yes, coal washing would certainly help, especially in vast brownfield coal blocks wherein we could get more power from existing investment. Pollution would moreover be greatly reduced, making for cleaner energy as required per our energy dependant development requirements while taking into account climate crises. Fantastic idea in scale given how much of our energy requirements depend on coal. more
Jun 17
Import of coal by CIL (Coal India Limited) is government mandated and is an emergency measure to avoid a shortage of coal for the country's power utilities and build up buffer stock. India's power demand is reportedly to have jumped up by a record 40,000-45,000MW/day. The jump in power demand is due to (i) intense heat wave sweeps through northern part of the country, (ii) the economy expands and (iii) electricity reaches millions of unelectrified homes. Coal washing can increase efficiency and quality, but comes at a price contributing to price escalation. Emission reduction gets reduced if coal is used post washing. Coal washing involves water, mechanical techniques and relies on gravity and density difference between coal and impurities. more
Jun 13
How can we ever decarbonise the power sector if India continues her effort to augment coal imports. Pollution, if carbonaceous fuels are excessively relied upon for powering electricity generation, will soon replace our power requirement as the enduring problem. Solution from solar energy seems to be coming last among India's priorities in decarbonisation. We electrified railways, transforming the coal burning external combustion engine with the cleaner electromotive one running on tracks powered by electricity drawn from powerlines overhead cables via pantographs. Power here may be solar or wind generated. Clean up the source further. Indian scientists also participating in Europe's fusion reactor trials, that replicates how Sun produces energy. Meanwhile, even as that development progresses, keep harnessing sun's energy on Earth. more
Jun 13
