Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

India – no power to the people


India – no power to the people

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/3/6f345d4c-db26-11e1-be74-00144feab49a.html#axzz22Ih4Ynp9

However, from the Council on Foreign Relations:

Top of the Agenda: Power Returns in India Following Blackout
Electric power was restored in India today after malfunctions with three of the nation's power grids left more than half of the population without electricity yesterday (NYT)
. Approximately 670 million people--10 percent of the world's population--were plunged into darkness, while coal miners were trapped underground and transportation ground to a halt. Limited rainfall may have adversely affected the power delivery of hydroelectric dams, or farmers experiencing a drought may have been using more power to run water pumps, federal officials speculated. U.S. power experts suggested that critical circuit breakers on the grid may have been neglected. The demand for power in India far surpasses the supply, with around 300 million people without access to electric power.
Analysis
"The blackout seems to have been selected by a malign God to exhibit yet another glaring vulnerability: rotten infrastructure
. The technical fault appears to lie in the national transmission grid that links together the local electricity networks. Officials have suggested it may have been 'tripped' by a surge in demand for power. But in truth India's power sector has been a disaster waiting to happen after years of neglect," says the Economist.
"India is an increasingly rich country that fails to invest in its sources of wealth
: roads, health, schools, power. The result is a nation that has prospered (in parts and very unequally) despite the state, not because of it. Middle-class Indians have sent their children to English-medium private schools, who have gone on to jobs at multinationals who lay on private healthcare, private transport--and private schooling," says this Guardian editorial.
"Throw open the generation, transmission and distribution of power to more competition
, which introduces efficiency. Often insufficient coal supply for thermal power plants is the problem. Coal India's monopoly over mining coal needs to be broken, which will bring efficiency in the production of coal as well. Power theft, which receives political patronage but disincentivises the huge investments needed by the power sector, must be curbed," says this Times of India editorial.

India seeks some light in the dark
By Raja Murthy 
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/NH02Df02.html

The power failure that this week brought half of India to a standstill is the result of energy shortfalls caused by an addiction to over-consumption, with gadgets such as air-conditioners now seen as essential by the newly prosperous. The answer isn't India sacrificing its chillers to swelter in ascetic discomfort, or modern nuclear plants. An alternative to reliance on hydro-power and imported electricity is needed, with the sun a glaringly obvious candidate. - Raja Murthy (Aug 1, '12)

No comments:

Post a Comment