India’s power generation from conventional sources increased 9% m-o-m to 115.64 billions units (BU) in Jul’21 compared to 106.46 BU in Jun’21, as per data provided by the power ministry.
Incidentally, the volume was also higher than the pre-Covid levelof 108.41 BU seen in Jul’20.
After an encouraging start to the fiscal, electricity demand came down in the May-Jun’21 period due to lockdown restrictions imposed by states. However, a significant recovery was seen in the month of July mainly due to a surge in economic activities amid easing of lockdown restrictions and delayed monsoon.
Notably, the country had witnessed an all-time high peak power demand of 200.57 GW during the month which was recorded on 7 Jul’21.
Power sector to bolster coal offtakes
Coal-fired generation,in order to meet the rising demand, grew 8% m-o-m in Jul’21. But, its share in the energy mix during the month was comparatively lower than the levels seen in Apr’21 due to increase in hydro-power availability.
In fact, coal-fired power generation has come down to 92.02 BU in Jul’21 against 103.7 BU in Apr’21, while hydro power registered an exponential growth of 127% in the same time-frame.
Nonetheless, the recent uptick in power generation is likely to provide the much-needed boost to Coal India Ltd (CIL) at the expense of coal-fired plants which have been reluctant to take additional coal supplies. As a result, their coal stock has been continuously receding.
As per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), coal stock at the power plants have fallen 16% m-o-m to 24 mn t in Jul’21, which are sufficient for 13 days of power generation.
With industrial demand for power expected to rise post-monsoon, coal demand from power plants is also likely to grow in tandem in the coming months.
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