‘Govt prepared to meet rising power demand’
Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday reviewed the coal production and despatch situation at thermal power plants (TPPs) as the country’s power demand is expected to hit 235 gigawatts (GW) during May.
“Chaired a meeting with senior o¡cials of the Coal Ministry to review coal production and o-take. We are fully prepared to meet the rising coal demand during the peak summer months and every step is being taken to ensure adequate coal supply
Coal Minister Prahlad Joshi
across the country, to continue powering up the economy. With expansion in coal mining and improvement in e¡ciency, we are successfully meeting the rising energy demands of the nation,” Joshi tweeted on X.
The Minister noted that coal stock at domestic coalbased TPPs have increased by 30 per cent over 2023. Currently, the total coal stock in the country is 149 million tonnes (mt). With su¡cient stocks available, the Ministry is prepared for the ongoing summer season in May and June and upcoming monsoons ahead, he added.
India produced 78.69 mt coal during April, a growth of 7.42 per cent y-o-y. Dispatch to the power sector rose 5.43 per cent y-o-y to 69.83 mt.
DEMAND NUMBERS
Last week, the Power Ministry said that peak electricity demand is likely to hit 235 GW during the day and 225 GW during the evening in May. In June, the peak is likely to reach 240 GW in the day and 235 GW during the evening hours. The peak evening power demand during April 2024 stood at 224 GW, which was successfully met.
The Ministry said it has also invoked Section 11 for gasbased power plants too, which has made available additional 6 GW for May and June. This is in addition to the 10 GW already made available.
Section 11 has also been invoked for imported coalbased (ICB) power plants. Under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003, the government can direct Gencos, under extraordinary circumstances, to operate and maintain power plants in accordance with its directions.
The optimisation of hydro power generation has made available an additional 4 GW for meeting the demand during May and June.
Besides, the shifting of planned maintenance and minimisation of partial and forced outages of TPPs has made available another 5 GW for the summer season, the Power Ministry said. Further, compared with April 2024, power generated from wind is expected to increase by 4-5 GW during May and June, it added.