According to the tentative report provided by the Power Ministry, India’s thermal power generation in Jan’18 has rose to an 8-month high, in order to compensate for the drop in hydro power generation.
Hydro power generation has been falling on the monthly basis since Sep’17, on account of the retreating monsoon. During Jan’18, hydro generation had dropped to its lowest total for FY18; recorded at 6.619 BU.
Part of the country’s power demand is also catered by the electricity imported from Bhutan. During the month, electricity imports from Bhutan had decreased 29% M-o-M to 0.099 BU, which was also the lowest monthly import in FY18.
In order to compensate for the loss in power output, thermal power generation rose 6% M-o-M to 90.563 BU in Jan’18, thus recording a PLF of 62.47 in the process. Nuclear power generation too maintained its steady growth on the monthly basis, and was noted at 3.92 BU in Jan’18.
Moreover, Thermal plants (including coal, gas and diesel plants) and nuclear plants both had also produced more power than their scheduled program of Jan’18 in order to meet the energy demand of the country.
India Conventional Power Generation
| Source | Target for Jan’18 | Actual Generation in Jan’18 | Actual Generation in Dec’17 | %Change |
| Thermal | 90.523 | 90.563 | 85.668 | 6% |
| Hydro* | 7.457 | 6.619 | 6.895 | -4% |
| Nuclear | 3.128 | 3.92 | 3.893 | 1% |
| Bhutan Imports | 0.277 | 0.099 | 0.1398 | -29% |
| Total Conventional Sources | 101.385 | 101.201 | 96.59 | 5% |
Source: Power Ministry
Quantity in BU
*excludes generation from Hydro stations upto 25 MW
Total Indian power generation from conventional sources has increased 5% M-o-M to 101.20 BU (Billion Units) in Jan’18, compared with 96.6 BU in Dec’17. Power generation was also 6% higher on the year compared with 95.69 BU in Jan’17.
During Apr’17-Jan’18 period, the country has produced 1007.84 BU power from the conventional sources, 4% higher than the total of 968.764 BU achieved in the corresponding period of FY17.
Leave a Reply