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The rapidly increasing power consumption in India, driven by growing industrial and residential usage, led to a surge in coal imports for thermal power plants.
Domestic thermal power utilities with a combined capacity exceeding 180 GW imported 7.5 million tonnes of coal for blending last month, 65% higher than 4.54 million tonnes during the same period last year.
This prompted the Power Ministry to mandate an increase in blending with imported coal from 4% to 6%. The Indian government also asked all imported-coal based plants to run at full capacity to address the power shortage.
India's electricity demand witnessed remarkable year-on-year increases of over 20% from August to November.
In October, the country's energy consumption rose 22% on the year to 139 billion units, attributed to increased electricity demand, below-average rainfall, and a lower base from the previous year.
Peak power demand during the next demand season (April to June) could reach 250 GW, surpassing 241 GW recorded on September 1, 2023, sources said.
Despite increased coal production and dispatches by the Coal Ministry, the rising electricity consumption resulted in strain of supply to power plants.
Thermal power plants with a capacity exceeding 206 GW consumed 75.7 million tonnes of coal over October, against 58.3 million tonnes last year. During April-October 2023, coal consumption surged from 447.6 million tonnes in the previous year to 498 million tonnes.
Domestic coal supplies witnessed an increase as well. Coal India Ltd. (CIL) accounted for a high supply at 48.73 million tonnes, followed by captive mines at 7.88 million tonnes. Singareni Collieries Co., Ltd. (SCCL) supplied 5.27 million tonnes, while 3.03 million tonnes of coal was procured through e-auctions.
India's government on November 21 asked private firms to ramp up investments in new coal-fired power plants to meet a drastic rise in electricity demand, despite international pressure to stop building such facilities.
Currently, there exists a gap of about 250,000 tonnes per day between coal consumption and receipt at domestic power plants.
(Writing by Riley Liang Editing by Harry Huo)
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