India’s Coal Power Usage Set to Witnesses Substantial Decrease

Necessity of coal power in India has started to decrease for the first time in last 14 years, as demand slows and cheaper and cleaner renewable sources of electricity erode the fossil fuel’s share. Coal generation fell for a fourth month in November, as per the recorded data.

That results in decline in consumption because of slowing industrial activity and a decreased economy as well as prolonged rains that pushed up production from hydroelectric dams while curbing electricity demand for irrigation.

According to Sambitosh Mohapatra, partner for power and utilities at PricewaterhouseCoopers India, when demand is down, utilities end up reducing off take from costlier coal plants, and buy more from other sources such as hydro, renewables and nuclear. Power generation from coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, dropped 11% from a year earlier in November. Output in the year to November fell 2.4%, the first ever drop for the 11-month period, he adds.