중국-유럽에 이어 인도까지… 전력난 글로벌 확산 위기
Conventional energy sources like coal or natural gas might seem like things of the past as countries race to become carbon neutral.
However, recent events have shown how we are still reliant on such fossil fuels .
China has been going through an energy crisis for months due to a coal bottleneck and now India is suffering a similar fate.
Meanwhile, Europe is seeing turmoil in the natural gas market.
To take a closer look at these issues, we have our Kim Sung-min in the studio.
Welcome Sung-min.
Good to be with you, Jung-min.
So, Sung-min…this whole energy crisis has been going on for a while in Europe and China. And now India joins the list of countries with energy issues?
That’s right Jung-min. India has become the latest country to face a serious power shortage following China and Europe.
Like China, it is experiencing a coal supply crunch, whereas Europe’s disruption is due to the supply of natural gas.
According to India’s power ministry,… as of last Friday, the country’s 1-hundred-35 thermal power plants had an average of just four days of coal supplies left.
This is serious because coal accounts for around 70 percent of India’s electricity output.
So if the coal supply shortage continues,… it will add more uncertainty to the global economy.
So the issue at hand here in India is a coal supply crunch like China.
Are these two disruptions related?
Yes, surging demand for power is partly why both countries are having power shortages.
A strong recovery from the pandemic meant that industrial activities expanded quickly and supply could not keep up.
At the same time, an international dispute had led China to cut its coal imports from Australia.
Power shortages in China have been forcing factories to shut down.
To secure energy ahead of the winter season, Beijing has ordered state-owned energy companies to secure fuel supplies at all costs,… causing the price of coal to surge.
From August to late September,… global coal prices soared over 40 percent to all time highs.
Coal from Indonesia in particular, one of India’s major suppliers,… rose to over 1-hundred-50 dollars per tonne in September.
Also while India meets around three-quarters of its coal demand locally,… heavy rains have flooded mines,… hammering local output.
And Europe although the problem is about natural gas the fact that it’s also going through an energy crisis right now seems more than just a coincidence.
Is there any connection that we can make?
Well, I’m sure growing demand amid increased economic activities is an overriding factor… but other than that, Europe’s situation is rather different.
The energy crisis in the EU,… accompanied by surging power bills, has been caused mainly by the sudden transition to green energy.
After going through a colder than usual winter last year,… natural gas inventories in Europe were depleted and electricity prices started to soar.
They now rely more on clean energy but with wind and water having unusually low output,.. it has turned into an energy crisis… in what some people are calling “greenflation.”
“I think the goal for energy transition is to make sure that the carbon dioxide emission declines year by year. However, unfortunately, the EU’s ideal energy transition is turning the year 2021 into a climate nightmare, which would also be a nightmare for European people and companies.”
So with multiple countries struggling,… how long is this global energy shortage going to last?
In terms of China,… experts say that it really depends on how China’s icy relations with Australia unfold.
And in fact,… just yesterday, the Financial Times reported that Chinese importers have started to unload Australian coal again despite the unofficial import ban.
Reuters also cited traders based in China,… to report that China is releasing Australian coal from bonded storage although the details of this are not yet clear.
Some industry watchers say that this could be a sign of policy loosening but the policy reversal is unlikely to come any time soon.
Also de-carbonization efforts in China could further stretch the coal bottleneck.
“China is looking ahead to its Winter Olympics next year and with growing pressure from the international community about cutting carbon emissions,… there has been an effort to cut the use of coal which is aggravating the situation.”
In India,… the federal coal secretary said the local fuel producer Coal India should be able to increase supplies enough by the second week of October, although it will depend on the weather.
He added however that it will take a lot longer to fill the badly depleted stockpiles up to a stable state.
And over in Europe,… EU ministers met in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss the high energy prices…
#China #energy #crisis
2021-10-06, 19:00 (KST)