Coal news and updates

Analysis: Dark summer nights: India faces high risks of power cuts after years of coal, hydro power neglect

An employee works at the construction site of a grid power station in Jammu May 5, 2011. REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta

• Companies

• Summer nighttime peak supply gap estimated at 1.7%
• Peak hydro output seen down 18% in April from year ago
• Government officials downplay concerns
• Coal power, hydro capacity addition needs to be expedited

SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI, March 8 (Reuters) - India faces a high risk of nighttime power cuts this summer and in coming years, as delays in adding new coal-fired and hydropower capacity could limit the country's ability to address surging electricity demand when solar energy is not available.

A rapid addition of solar farms has helped India avert daytime supply gaps, but a shortage of coal-fired and hydropower capacity risks exposing millions to widespread outages at night, government data and internal documents reviewed by Reuters show.