Intense summer heatwaves, a colder-than-usual winter in northern India and an economic recovery led to a jump in electricity demand, forcing India to crank up output from coal plants and solar farms as it scrambled to avoid power cuts. Power generation rose 11.5 per cent to 1,591.11 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), or units, in the fiscal year ended March 2023, an analysis of daily load data from regulator Grid-India showed, the sharpest increase since year ended March 1990.
In the new fiscal year that began April 1, Indian power plants are expected to burn about 8 per cent more coal.
Total power supplied during the last fiscal year was 1509.15 billion kWh, 8.4 per cent higher than a year earlier but still 6.69 billion units short of demand, the widest deficit in six years.
India’s Central Electricity authority estimates that 1 million kWh of power produced from coal generates 975 tonnes of carbon dioxide, while the same amount of power generated from gas produces 475 tonnes. A plant fired by lignite, known as brown coal, emits 1,280 tonnes to produce equivalent power.
Increased fossil fuel burning for power in the world’s fifth largest economy drove up CO2 emissions during the year by nearly a sixth, to 1.15 billion tonnes, Reuters calculations based on government data and emissions estimates show.
Many major countries boosted coal use in the twelve months due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the rise was steepest in India, data from energy think-tank Ember shows.
After missing a target to install 175 GW in renewable energy capacity by 2022, India is trying to boost non-fossil capacity – solar and wind energy, nuclear and hydro power, and bio-power – to 500 GW by 2030.
The green energy output helped prevent as much as 32.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions from power that would otherwise likely have been produced with coal, calculations show.
The share of renewables in power generation, excluding big hydro and nuclear power, rose to 11.8% in 2022/23, compared with 10.8% the previous year, the data showed, driven mainly by a 35% increase in solar output.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest For Top Stories News Click Here