インドも電力不足の恐れ　需要急増

【ニューデリーＡＦＰ＝時事】インドで、石炭不足と新型コロナウイルス流行収束後の経済再開に伴う需要急増により、向こう数か月以内に電力不足が生じる可能性が高まっている。同国メディアが５日、ラージ・クマール・シン電力相の話として伝えた。（写真は資料写真）
　中国と欧州も電力不足に直面しており、世界の供給網が混乱し、電気料金も高騰している。
　シン氏はインディアン・エクスプレスのインタビューで、需要は涼しくなる１０月後半から通常下がり始めるが、今年は「きわどい状況」にあると説明。電力需要は「驚異的」だと述べた。
　「需要が無くなることはなく、今後も増えていく。（中略）消費者が２８２０万人増えた。その大半が下位中間層や貧困層で、扇風機や照明、テレビなどを購入している」
　国内の石炭火力発電所の石炭在庫は９月末時点で平均４日分しかなく、近年で最低水準となっている。
　半数以上の石炭火力発電所で供給停止の恐れがあり、政府は現在使われていない発電所の再稼働も検討している。
　インドの電源構成の７０％近くを石炭が占めている。原料の石炭の約４分の３は国内で採掘されている。
　国内向け石炭の大半を生産する国営インド石炭公社（ＣＩＬ）は、供給を確保するため「戦時体制」を敷いているとしている。
　アジア第３位の経済規模のインドでは、新型コロナウイルス流行後の経済再開により電力需要が急増している。また、先のモンスーンによる大雨で鉱山が浸水し、石炭輸送が中断されたため、石炭価格は高騰した。
　石炭価格は国際的に高騰しており、輸入も難しい状況だ。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/10/07-13:17）

India is facing possible energy supply problems in the coming months due to coal shortages and a post-pandemic surge in demand, the power minister said in a report published Tuesday.
His comments come as China and European countries face energy crises that are disrupting global supply chains and sending prices soaring.
Normally the demand starts coming down in the second half of October... when (the weather) starts cooling, R. K. Singh told the Indian Express in an interview.
But it's going to be touch and go, Singh said, calling demand for electricity tremendous.
Demand is not going to go away, it's going to increase... We've added 28.2 million consumers. Most of them are lower-middle class and poor, so they are buying fans, lights, televisions sets, he said.
India's coal-fired power stations had on average four days' stock at the end of September, the lowest in years.
More than half the plants are on alert for outages and the government is mulling bringing idled power stations back into operation.
Coal accounts for nearly 70 percent of India's electricity generation and around three-quarters of the fossil fuel is mined domestically.
State-run giant Coal India, which produces most of the country's supply, has said it is on a war footing to ensure adequate deliveries.
On top of a rise in demand as Asia's third-largest economy rebounds following a coronavirus wave, India has been hit by recent monsoon rains that flooded mines and disrupted transport.
This pushed up prices sharply for coal buyers, including power stations.
Buying coal abroad is expensive because international prices have also soared.
Until supplies stabilise completely, we are likely to see power outages in some pockets, while customers elsewhere may be asked to pay more for power, Pranav Master, director for infrastructure advisory at credit ratings firm Crisil, told Bloomberg News.
Because of imported coal prices shooting through the roof, plants running on domestic coal have had to do a lot of heavy lifting. Things are expected to get better as the rains abate.
European countries are also facing a power crisis, with natural gas reserves at low levels and energy prices surging.
China has been hit by widespread power cuts that have closed or partially closed factories, hitting production and global supply chains.
Singh insisted that the Indian government was working hard to avert a crisis, saying that so far there is nowhere that we have not been able to supply the quantity of power demanded.