Relevance: GS-1 (Geography) & GS-3 (Economy, Energy Security, Infrastructure)  |Source: Indian Express

1. What is the Core Issue?

As India faces extreme summer heatwaves, the country’s energy security is being severely tested on two completely different fronts at the same time:

• External Crisis: A geopolitical shock in the Middle East has choked our cooking gas (LPG) imports.
• Internal Crisis: A structural flaw in our electricity grid is causing a dangerous “night-time power gap.”

2. The LPG Crisis

India is heavily dependent on foreign markets to run its kitchens, importing about 60% of its annual LPG requirement.

• The Chokepoint: Almost 90% of these imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Due to the ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict, this critical sea route was practically closed.
• The Impact: LPG imports crashed by half. This created a panic because the Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has successfully connected 33 crore domestic households to LPG, making the demand rigid and socially sensitive.
• Administrative Action: To ensure homes didn’t go hungry, the government immediately rationed LPG for commercial and industrial users. Domestic refineries were ordered to ramp up production by 40%, and India is now aggressively hunting for new suppliers in the US, Australia, and Russia to bypass the Middle East.

3. The Power Grid Crisis

Extreme heat pushed India’s electricity demand to an unprecedented record high of 256 Gigawatts (GW).

• The “Duck Curve” Problem: During the day, our massively expanded solar panels easily handle the heavy load of air conditioners. However, the moment the sun sets, solar power instantly drops to zero. Exactly at this time, evening domestic demand peaks (people return home, turn on ACs, charge EVs).
• Baseload Failure: To fill this sudden evening gap, the grid relies heavily on coal and nuclear power (known as firm baseload power). Unfortunately, unexpected technical failures (forced outages) knocked out 23.8 GW of coal power exactly when the sun went down, causing severe night-time power deficits across the country.

4. The Way Forward

To secure India’s economic and social stability, administrators must execute two major infrastructure upgrades:

• Build Strategic Gas Reserves: Just like India stores emergency crude oil underground, we must urgently build dedicated strategic storage tanks for LPG and LNG to survive sudden geopolitical shocks.
• Fund Grid-Scale Storage: Adding more solar panels will not solve the night-time power cuts. The government must aggressively subsidize and build massive Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and Pumped Hydro Storage (giant water batteries). These systems will store excess daytime solar energy and release it after sunset.

UPSC Value Box

• The Duck Curve: A famous graph in the energy sector showing the dangerous timing imbalance between peak renewable energy production (midday) and peak electricity demand (evening).
• Grid-India: A wholly owned government enterprise responsible for keeping the National Power Grid stable and secure.
• CEA (Central Electricity Authority): A statutory body created under the Electricity Act, 2003, responsible for advising the government on power policies and monitoring thermal plants.
• Baseload Power: The absolute minimum, continuous amount of electricity required to keep a country’s power grid running 24/7 without blackouts (traditionally provided by coal and nuclear).

With reference to India’s energy sector and grid management, consider the following statements:

1. The “Duck Curve” phenomenon highlights the severe timing imbalance between peak solar energy generation and peak evening electricity demand.
2. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) is a statutory body established under the Electricity Act, 2003.
3. India currently meets 100% of its domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) demand exclusively through the production of domestic oil refineries.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: (a)