Just a little over two years after committing to eventually phase down the use of the fuel, India has now asked utilities to not retire coal-fired power plants till 2030 due to a surge in electricity demand, a federal power ministry notice has shown.
Last year, India announced plans to reduce power generation from at least 81 coal-fired plants over the next four years, albeit the proposal did not involve shutting down any of its 179 coal power plants nor did it include a formal timeline for phasing down coal use.
“It is advised to all power utilities not to retire any thermal (power generation) units till 2030 and ensure availability of units after carrying out renovation and modernisation activities if required,” the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) said in a notice dated Jan. 20 sent to officials in the federal power ministry.
According to the which acts as an advisor to the ministry, this new directive is coming at the back of a December meeting where the federal power minister had asked that ageing thermal power plants need not be retired, and instead increase the lifetime of such units “considering (the) expected demand scenario”.
Read also: New Zealand issues new alerts as the country prepares for more extreme weather
The world’s second-largest consumer, producer and importer of coal, India fell short of its 2022 renewable energy addition target by nearly a third and coal accounts for nearly three-quarters of annual electricity generation.
Events such as extreme weather, rising household use of electricity as more companies allowing employees to work from home, and a pickup in industrial activity after the easing of coronavirus-related restrictions have led to an increase in power demand in India.
At the height of an intense heatwave last April that caused India’s worst power crisis in six and a half years, peak power demand met – a measure of maximum power supplied during the day – rose to a record of as much as 210.6 GW on Jan. 18, 1.7% surpassing the previous peak of 207.1 GW.
“Peak power demand has already risen 5% this year. If it increased by another 3-4%, we could be staring at another crisis,” a senior official at a utility in a southern Indian state said. “There is no question of retiring old coal units,”.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
