India’s coal-based power generation has increased by 8% y-o-y to 94.43 billion units (BU) in February 2023 as against 87.65 BU in February 2022, as per tentative data provided by the Ministry of Power.
The growth in generation volume was comparatively lower than previous months when robust double-digit y-o-y increase was recorded during the November-January period.
Nevertheless, with the gradual rise in mercury levels, coal-based plants scaled up generation to a 10-month high of 3.37 BU/day in February. Besides, an uptick in power consumption supported by sustained momentum of economic activities also pushed the volume higher.
The government is again banking on the coal-fired stations to meet power demand which is expected to increase substantially in the coming months during peak summer.
To ensure adequate power availability, the domestic coal-based plants have been directed to import coal so as to avoid outages arising from the shortfall in domestic coal supplies. On the other hand, the imported coal-based (ICB) power plants have been asked to resume operations at full capacity by invoking the emergency law under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
Notably, these measures have been introduced for the second time in as many years.
Inventory build-up takes a hit
Higher power generation has dented the government’s plan of attaining 45 mnt of coal inventory by March 2023, which was seen as a sign of preparedness for the peak summer season.
At the end of February, coal inventory was assessed almost stable at 33.65 mnt as against 33.13 mnt recorded in end-January. Incidentally, logistical constraints affecting domestic coal supply chains further slowed down inventory build-up in February.
Coal supplied to the power plants by State-owned miner Coal India Ltd (CIL), dipped to 1.70 mnt/day in February as against 1.73 mnt/day in January.
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