India: Conventional Power Generation Fall 10% M-o-M in Feb’18

According to the tentative report provided by the Power Ministry, India’s power generation from the conventional sources had decreased 10% on the month to 91.61 BU in Feb’18, against 101.86 BU in Jan’18.

The conventional power output in Feb’18 had also fallen to its lowest total of FY18, but was 2% higher on the year compared with 89.29 BU in Feb’17.

Power generation from Conventional sources include thermal power generation (from Coal, diesel and gas plants), Hydro power, Nuclear power and electricity imported from Bhutan.

As per the report, Thermal and Nuclear power plants had achieved their respective generation target for the month. For the thermal plants, the generation target for Feb’18 was kept lower than the previous month’s target of 90.523 BU; while for the nuclear plants the target was kept unchanged. However, power generation from all the sources had fell on the month.

Hydro power generation continued its downward trend as a result of the weaker monsoon, was recorded 15% lower than the year-ago total of 6.375 BU in Feb’17.

Source: Power Ministry
Quantity in BU (Billion Units)

Looking at the Power Generation graph, it is evident that the power output falls every year during February which is immediately followed by a surge in March as a result of the increased electricity demand in the summer season.

Domestic coal availability has improved as a result of the continuous efforts made by CIL. Still, coal stock at many power plants has been recorded below the critical levels.

As per the data provided by CEA, the available coal stock at Indian power stations was assessed at 15.675 MnT as on 28 Feb’18, with 51 plants having a stock level below 7 days. The same was maintained at 26.153 MnT back in Feb’17, when only 2 plants were having critical stock.

The spike in power demand during Mar’18 is likely to create imbalance in the domestic coal supply, consequently the appetite for imported Non-Coking coal would increase.