Shutting old coal plants, freezing new ones will save Rs 1.45 trn: Report

Replacing scheduled generation from these old plants with cheaper electricity, either from new renewables or from the market, would save another Rs 7,000 crore annually

Shutting down old coal-based power plants and freezing those under construction can save over Rs 1.45 trillion at a time when electricity demand has been hit due to Covid-19, a report said.

According to the report by research organisation Climate Risk Horizons released on Thursday, this move will also improve the financial health of the rest of the coal fleet.

With lack of power demand due to Covid-19, and difficulties in revenue collection, power distribution companies' overdues to generators have increased toRs 114,733 crore, it pointed out.

The report estimates that replacingelectricity from older coal plants with cheaper renewable sources will reduce the gap between