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The European Union has shown rock-solid unity in confronting Russia over its war in Ukraine, but EU leaders lack that common purpose heading into Thursday's summit to seek joint measures to contain an energy crisis that has already dented their economy and threatens to spread hardship among the bloc's 450 million people this winter. Natural gas prices spiraled out of control over the summer as EU nations sought to outbid one another to fill up their reserves for winter. Now EU leaders will seek to increasingly pool their purchases of gas and set a temporary price cap to make sure an overheated energy market does not return to haunt them again. The 27-nation bloc hit Russia with a series of economic sanctions since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded by choking off pipelines that used to send plentiful oil and gas to stoke the wheels of industry across much of the EU. Russia has systemically tried to blackmail us through energy, said EU ...
India is unlikely to see a repeat of the 2021 energy crisis this festive season as coal-fired power stations across the country have comfortable levels of the fuel stock to meet electricity demand of the world's fastest expanding major economy. Learning lessons from the October 2021 energy crisis, when power stations were put on outage alert, due to coal stocks falling to the lowest level in years, the ministries of coal and power as well as railways this year have worked out a plan to ensure adequate fuel stocks at electricity generating units, officials said. With coal used to produce almost 70 per cent of electricity, officials are confident that the 2021 crisis will not be repeated this festive season that kicks in a week's time. Electricity demand in India has soared with a rebound in industrial activity after easing of pandemic-related curbs. And the increased lightning needs during the festive season is likely to send the demand shooting. According to a coal ministry officia
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had an urgent meeting scheduled with his Cabinet on Wednesday to discuss the country's electricity crisis, which has led to unprecedented levels of nationwide power blackouts in Africa's most developed economy. The troubled state-owned power utility Eskom, which produces about 95% of the country's electricity, is implementing scheduled, rolling blackouts in an attempt to save electricity while struggling to keep its ageing and poorly maintained coal-fired power stations operational. Ramaphosa returned home to chair the meeting with his ministers after attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London. He cancelled his trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Eskom had started implementing Stage 6 power cuts, a level that means businesses and homes go without electricity for more than 10 hours a day. The company has since reduced the level to Stage 5, which requires South Africans to go without power for up to eight .