Indian power generation from conventional sources have increased 4% on the year to 658.55 BU (Billion Units) during the first 6 months of FY20 as against 635.81 BU noted in the year-ago period, as per the tentative data provided by power ministry.
Conventional sources including thermal (coal, gas and diesel), hydro & nuclear plants and a minor part of electricity imported from Bhutan, has witnessed tepid demand arising from the recent slow down seen across various industrial firms.
Notably, power output in Sep’19 continued the down slide on monthly basis to attain its lowest total for FY20 marked at 104.68 BU, which was also 3% lower on the year from 108.33 BU in Sep’18.
Extended monsoon has helped an improved output from hydro power plants thereby limiting the part generation from the thermal power units.
| Source | Generation Target for H1 FY20 | Generation in H1 FY20 | Generation in H1 FY19 | % Change |
| Thermal | 567.67 | 534.51 | 529.61 | 1% |
| Hydro* | 87.40 | 95.96 | 83.38 | 15% |
| Nuclear | 21.56 | 23.86 | 19.00 | 26% |
| Bhutan Imports | 3.68 | 4.23 | 3.81 | 11% |
| Total | 680.31 | 658.55 | 635.81 | 4% |
Source: Power Ministry
Quantity in BU
* *excludes generation from Hydro stations up to 25 MW
A source-wise break-up of power output indicate that thermal power generation stood 534.51 BU in the 6-month period of FY20, noting a slight increase of 1% on the year from 529.61 BU noted in the year-ago period.
In contrast, remaining sources led by hydro power plants had posted hefty y-o-y increase in output, while also managing to overtake the target set for the half year period.
Output from hydro power plants surged 15% on the year to 95.96 BU in the half-year period, which had crossed the target of 87.4 BU set for the period. Besides, a noticeable growth was seen in nuclear power output in the 6-month period.
Declining coal stock set to envisage higher supplies at power stations:
Increased hydro power availability has also weighted down coal-fired power generation which have remain subdued in the first half year period.
Output from coal plants had noted a modest growth of 1% Y-o-Y in the 6-month period, rising to 493.32 BU during Apr-Sep’19 as against 487.64 BU in Apr-Sep’18 period. In fact, power output had extended its fall during Sep’19, as it decreased 11% on the year to 71.75 BU compared with 80.45 BU in Sep’18.
However, despite the lower output, a weaker supply from CIL has resulted in a drastic fall in coal stock at the power plants which have reduced nearly 45% since the start of FY20.
Data provided by CEA shows that coal stock at power plants was assessed at 17.078 MnT as on 13 Oct’19, sufficient for 10 days of power generation. Apparently, stock level has fallen 13% M-o-M from 19.741 MnT noted in the month ago-date.
It is expected that CIL would elevate coal supplies to the power plants in order to revive the existing stock levels.
Leave a Reply