Power generation grows at fastest pace in 33 years, fueled by coal

India’s power generation grew at the fastest pace in more than three decades in the fiscal year that just ended, a Reuters analysis of government data showed, fueling a sharp rise in emissions as production of renewable and coal plants reached records.

Intense summer heatwaves, a colder-than-usual winter in northern India, and an economic recovery led to a surge in demand for electricity, forcing India to ramp up production from coal plants and farms solar while fighting to avoid power outages. Power generation rose 11.5 percent to 1,591.11 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), or units, in the fiscal year ending March 2023, an analysis of daily load data from the regulator Grid-India, the largest increase since the year ending March 1990.

Production from plants running on fossil fuels rose 11.2%, the fastest growth in more than three decades, thanks to a 12.4% increase in electricity production from coal, the analysis showed, offsetting a 28.7% decrease in generation from cleaner gas. plants as a global rise in LNG prices discouraged use.

In the new fiscal year that began on April 1, Indian power plants are expected to burn about 8 percent more coal.

The rapid acceleration in India’s coal production to meet a surge in energy demand underscores the challenges facing the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in weaning its economy off carbon, while trying to ensure security. energy supply of about 1.4 billion Indians.

Total power supplied during the last fiscal year was 1,509.15 billion kWh, up 8.4 percent from the previous year, but still 6.69 billion units below demand, the widest shortfall in six years.

Electricity generated from coal rose to 1,162.91 billion kWh, the data showed, with its share of total output rising to 73.1%, the highest level since the year ending March 2019.

India’s central electricity authority estimates that 1 million kWh of power produced from coal generates 975 tons of carbon dioxide, while the same amount of power generated from gas produces 475 tons. A brown coal-fired plant, known as lignite, emits 1,280 tons to produce equivalent energy.

Increased burning of fossil fuels for power in the world’s fifth-largest economy raised CO2 emissions for the year by nearly a sixth, to 1.15 billion tonnes, Reuters calculations based on government data show. and emission estimates.

That’s 3.4% of the International Energy Agency’s estimate of annual global emissions of 33.8 billion tons in 2022.

Many major countries boosted coal use in the 12 months due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the rise was most pronounced in India, data from energy think tank Ember shows.

The government has defended India’s high coal use citing lower per capita emissions compared to wealthier nations and increased renewable energy production.

After missing a target of installing 175 GW in renewable energy capacity by 2022, India is seeking to increase non-fossil capacity (solar and wind power, nuclear and hydropower, and bioenergy) to 500 GW by 2030.

India’s solar capacity additions increased by about a fifth during the fiscal year just ended, boosting its renewable energy production by a record 33.3 billion units, or 21.7%, to 187.1 billion units.

Green power production helped avoid up to 32.5 million tons of CO2 emissions from power that would otherwise likely have been produced by coal, calculations show.