India to burn 38% more coal every year with new plans for thermal power

About 3.5-4 MT of coal is used to generate 1,000 megawatt (MW) power at 65-75% plant load factor (PLF); with the new plan, total coal usage will increase by 38%

India is set to burn 292 million tonnes (MT) more coal yearly as the country will add 25-30 gigawatt (GW) thermal power on top of 49 GW coal-based units under construction.

About 3.5-4 MT of coal generates 1,000 megawatt (MW) power at 65-75 per cent plant load factor (PLF). With the new plan, total coal usage will increase by 38 per cent, according to a report in the Financial Express (FE).

As of March 2023, coal-based power generation capacity was 212 GW, and it is expected to reach 260 GW by 2030. Across India in FY23, 180 thermal power plants consumed 777 MT of coal, including 55 MT of imported coal.

According to the FE report, India is on its way to meet its commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). According to the nationally determined contributions (NDCs), India needs to have 50 per cent installed power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources and reduce the emission intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 45 per cent from the 2005 level by 2030.

India has already set up 44 per cent non-fossil fuel power generating capacity and is likely to take it up to 60 per cent by 2030. India has reduced 33 per cent of the emissions intensity of its GDP from 2005 level by 2019.

Vikram V, vice-president and sector head, corporate ratings, Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA), said, "Unless the battery economics improves significantly or we see a significant scale up in pumped hydro projects, there could be some challenges."

"If storage capacity does not come up, we may have to plan for coal-based capacity because we can't go for a scenario of having blackouts," he said.

Aarti Khosla, founder and director of Climate Trends, a Delhi-based firm that facilitates capacity building for climate action, "There's lack of clarity in trying to communicate what you eventually want to do with the mining and thermal power infrastructure."