Two KPIs are the most important in this scenario – Ramp rate and minimum technical load which determine if a plant would cash in on a short-term demand opportunity or not. Renewables being intermittent and with lack of grid scale battery capacity in India, coal plants which constitute of 70% of India’s installed capacity should be flexible enough to meet this demand on short notice. With extreme weather events become more common such as heavy rains, heat spells the demand for power is bound to fluctuate. We see that load factor is falling which creates high overheads and also it is fluctuating more through the day. Flexibility: In 2009-10, coal plants operated with a load factor of 77.5%, it has hence fallen to 53.37% in 20-21 and increased to 57.51% in 21-22.There are three parts to addressing this problem – improving flexibility, versatility, & vigilance in power plants. So, the solution to be proposed should address this larger issue more than the shortage itself. If we look at this issue as the undercurrent, this entire coal shortage is not a problem but a symptom of a bigger problem – financial viability of thermal power plants. Even before shortage, Coal India’s dues were not paid by the utilities, so at the time of crisis, Coal India was forced to put many utilities in delivery-against-payment list which exacerbated the problem. Coal India did ramp up production by about 24% in April to September compared to same period last year but there was a different problem brewing. So, locking in working capital as coal stocks is not an option whereas an average of 15 to 20 days of stocks is pragmatic. Indian thermal power plants do not have the luxury of stocking coal for months as they are already not in a sound financial position. Now that the shortage situation is tamed, this article explores what we learnt from it and how we should plan for the future.Ī multitude of factors caused the shortage – higher power demand due to economic recovery, rains in coal mining areas in India and abroad, supply chain issues, low stock levels, low domestic production, price rise in international markets and so on. If there is one thing that teaches us, it is that such events could occur more frequently with the unprecedented rate of climate change. In October, eighty percent of India’s 135 coal-powered plants had less than 8 days of supplies left. Hopefully we don’t have to wait another two years for the next Pop The Balloon release, as they already are in the works with a CD compilation on the The Teen Appeal together with Japanese label Wizzard In Vinyl.The acute coal shortage that occurred recently in India and China was a black swan event. On the B-side they temporarily slows things down a little with, in my opinion, the best track My Favourite Audience, before letting lose again with their version of the Animals I’m Crying.
Energetic – but there is still a sense of hooks. Songs in the spirit of early 70’s Stones/Replacements/Dictators. On the A-side they rock with their aim to save the virtues of rock ‘n’ roll ( Jet Set Gipsy & Girl Crazy).
The songs on this EP have been recorded in just five days in Laurent’s Paris kitchen, with help of Christian Rosset on bass (also ex-The Dogs) and Sebastian Buffet on drums. That tour (2002) sadly ended because of the death of The Dogs front man Dominique Laboubée. They became good friends during a tour in the States with the Dogs and Jeff’s band at that time the Ballbusters. The core of The Cinders is American Jeff Crane and Frenchman Laurent Ciron (ex-The Dogs). After the “return” in 2004 with a great pop 7” (Dwight Twilley Band) the label now draws their attention to rawk and roll. It’s nice to have Pop The Balloon back again with this newly-pressed 7” single.
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