拉杰什·库马尔·辛格 风力发电量的急剧下降正在加剧印度的电力短缺，在季风降雨不足导致水电产量下滑之后，进一步加重了燃煤电厂的负担。
A sharp drop in wind generation is worsening India’s electricity shortage, compounding a slump in hydropower after weak monsoon rains and adding to the strain on coal plants.
过去一周，尽管需求保持温和，但日落后的电力缺口仍在扩大，这主要归因于风力和煤炭发电量的减少。电力部数据显示，9月30日有近32吉瓦的热电装机容量处于离线状态。其中约一半的停机属于计划内停机，反映了夏季期间被推迟的常规维护工作。
Electricity deficits after sunset have widened over the past week even as demand remained moderate, largely because of lower wind and coal generation. Almost 32 gigawatts of thermal capacity was offline on Sept. 30, power ministry data show. About half of the outages were forced, reflecting routine maintenance that had been deferred during the summer.
10月3日，印度夜间峰值电力缺口达到5.8吉瓦，为今年第二大缺口，当时总需求为232吉瓦。过去一周，日落后的每日最大电力缺口平均为2.8吉瓦，而总需求保持在240吉瓦以下。
India faced a nighttime peak shortage of 5.8 gigawatts on Oct. 3, the second-largest this year, even with demand at 232 gigawatts. Over the past week, maximum daily deficits after sunset averaged 2.8 gigawatts while demand stayed below 240 gigawatts.
与夏季的情况形成鲜明对比，凸显了供应方面的挑战。5月22日，夜间需求飙升至253.3吉瓦的高位，但由于当时有约23吉瓦的风电装机容量和184吉瓦的煤炭发电量可供调度以满足负荷，电力缺口仅为1.1吉瓦。
The contrast with summer underscores the supply challenge. On May 22, nighttime demand surged to a high of 253.3 gigawatts, yet the shortage was just 1.1 gigawatts as about 23 gigawatts of wind capacity and 184 gigawatts of coal generation were available to meet the load.
印度电网控制器前负责人S.R.纳拉辛汉在电话采访中表示：“我们知道风力发电量通常从9月下旬开始减弱，而燃煤电厂的出力能力也是有限的。出路在于储能容量需要迅速提升。”过去十年间，印度新增了近250吉瓦的发电装机容量，其中三分之二为太阳能。对于满足日落后需求至关重要的风电，其扩张速度要慢得多。太阳能装机容量增长了20多倍，而风电装机容量仅略增一倍。目前，政府正大力推动太阳能、风能和电池的组合，以实现全天候供电。
“We know wind generation typically weakens from second half of September and there’s a limit to which we can flog coal power plants,” S.R. Narasimhan, former chief of Grid Controller of India, said by phone. “The way out is that storage capacity needs to go up rapidly.”India has added nearly 250 gigawatts of generation capacity over the past decade, two-thirds of it solar. Wind power, crucial for meeting demand after sunset, has expanded far more slowly. Solar capacity has increased more than 20-fold, while wind has little more than doubled. The government is now pushing combinations of solar, wind and batteries to provide round-the-clock power.
在9月份出现近10年来最严重的电力短缺之后，电网已经处于紧张状态。厄尔尼诺现象导致的炎热和干燥天气增加了冷却和灌溉需求，而降雨不足和水库枯竭抑制了水电，迫使煤电厂更加努力地运行并消耗库存。
The grid was already under strain after September recorded the worst power shortages for that month in almost a decade. El Niño-driven hot and dry weather boosted cooling and irrigation demand while weak rains and depleted reservoirs curbed hydropower, forcing coal plants to run harder and burn through inventories.
截至10月2日，在电力部监测的191家电厂中，近一半的电厂持有的煤炭库存不到法定库存的四分之一，这一水平被认为是至关重要的。印度电网控制器的数据显示，截至10月3日，风电的最大可用性下降了近三分之一，而煤炭的最大可用性下降了近8%。
As of Oct. 2, almost half of the 191 plants monitored by the power ministry held less than a quarter of their mandated coal inventories, a level considered critical. Maximum availability of wind power had fallen by almost a third by Oct. 3, while that from coal was down nearly 8%, Grid Controller of India data showed.