Indian power demand has been on a record high level in April 2022 driven by the intense heat-waves in mid-summer. As a result, increased consumption at the coal-based power plants had taken a toll on the inventory levels.
The decline in power plants’ coal stock began at a faster rate, but it has slowed down lately on account of higher supply and timely support from the renewable power sources.
As on 28 April, 2022, coal stock at the power plants hit the lowest level of 21.01 mnt for this year, registering a steep fall as against 25 mnt seen over the past three months.
These plants have been in a hand-to-mouth situation as logistic constraints pose a key challenge to the supply chain. Notably, the average coal supply to the plants was recorded at 2.18 mnt/day in April, which was lower than the consumption rate of 2.31 mnt/day.
However, with concentrated efforts, the coal companies have accelerated their supplies to the tune of 2.23 mnt/day during 29 April-3 May 2022 period. Consequently, the stock levels have slightly improved to 21.7 mnt as on 3 May.
Ease in coal-fired power generation
The elevated power consumption was primarily met by the coal-fired plants. However, the gradual rise in power output from alternative sources have reduced the burden on the coal plants to an extent.
Notably, coal-fired power generation recorded a fall of 3% w-o-w to 23,555 million units (MU) for the week ending on 4 May 2022, as per data provided by POSOCO.
In the similar time-frame, generation from renewable energy increased 27% w-o-w to 3,987 MU. Besides, the remaining power source had also scaled-up their generation volumes.
Source-wise power generation
Source: POSOCO | Quantity in MU
Power demand remains strong
Power demand is not expected to slow down in the near term, as the India Meteorological Department has forcasted above normal temperatures in the coming months.
At present, power consumption in the first week of May has risen to 4.57 billion units (BU) against 4.47 BU in April, and almost 28% higher than the year-ago level.
In this situation, the government is likely to step-up its efforts in keeping the power plants operational in order to avoid further power cuts in the country.
Leave a Reply