Rising mercury powers electricity demand to April record of 202 Gw

Executives at state-run power units say coal stock situation is comfortable currently, due to reprieve in weather in March, which allowed units to stock up the fuel

India’s peak power demand has already crossed 200 gigawatts (Gw), the highest for the month of April, as temperatures soar across the country. Since 2018, the peak power demand during the month has increased by more than 100 per cent, and has even crossed the previous record of 192 Gw, which was sharply high following Covid-triggered economic disruptions.

As the country gears up for the sweltering heat which would spike electricity demand, coal-based power is running the show. A senior power generation executive said between April 14 and 15, some 163 Gw of coal-based power was running during night hours – the highest ever in the history of the country. This translated to 2.4 million tonnes (mt) of coal consumption, said the executive.

 Sector experts feel this sets the tune for the coming summer months when the union ministry of power is expecting electricity demand to touch 230 Gw and coal demand to exceed 220 mt. Executives with state-run power units this paper spoke to said the coal stock situation is comfortable currently, thanks to the reprieve in the weather during the last two weeks of March, which allowed units to stock up coal.

The current daily (average) stock at the thermal units stands at 37 mt (including both domestic and imported). This translates to 14 days of coal stock at the end of the power units. The country’s largest power generator, NTPC, has 15 days’ stock of coal currently, said an executive.

 NTPC would also soon dispatch close to 4.5 Gw of gas-based power, as it will receive gas under a special arrangement with state-owned utility GAIL. 

Under the scheme, gas would be sourced by GAIL Ltd in advance and would be completely paid off, even if left unutilised. The ministry of power will pay from the Power System Development Fund for this special scheme.

 NTPC’s power trading arm NVVN had also called bids from gas-based power generation units for procuring power. NVVN would sell this in the open market when demand rises. Torrent Power won the bid to supply 0.9 Gw at Rs 4.9 per unit. Gas is a peaking power, i.e it can be switched on immediately as the demand goes up. This is unlike coal, which needs days to switch on back or renewable which is still not stored at large scale to be always available.

 Sector executives said the reliance on thermal power would drive the supply and lead to record high coal consumption. “Due to the forecast of heatwaves and probable chance of weak monsoons, hydropower would also be less than optimum. There is only limited availability of gas. Adequate coal supply is needed more than ever this year,” said a senior sector executive. 

 According to government data reported by Business Standard recently, the total coal requirement to run the 230 Gw power demand will be 222 mt during April-June 2023. The likely availability of domestic coal is expected to be about 201 mt. This shortfall is translating to a 100,000- to 300,000-tonne daily deficit in the supply of domestic coal, said an official.

 Considering this, the ministry of power had, in January, directed all power generating companies (gencos) to mandatorily import coal up to six per cent of their total requirement. Six states — Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu—have already placed imported coal tenders totalling 5.6 mt. NTPC had placed tenders for imported coal totalling 20 mt last year, of which 16 mt has been dispatched. Company sources said more tenders would be placed when the need arises.