Mint Explainer: What is India doing to meet its rising power demand?
Mint takes a look at the trend in India's power demand and how the government plans to manage the rising need. Power demand remained elevated due to high temperatures after subdued demand in July following heavy rains across parts of north India. The peak demand has neared the Central Electricity Authority's (CEA) projection of 230 GW peak power demand for this year.
Prices have increased on the exchanges. Last week, the weighted market clearing price (MCP) on the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) touched ₹6.04 per kilowatt hour (kWh or unit) up from ₹4.25 per unit compared to the previous week. The prices have been intermittently hitting the ₹10 per unit price cap.
The Centre has taken a number of steps this year in anticipation of a record power demand. In February, the union power ministry had directed power generation companies to blend 6% imported coal till September to avoid any crisis situation due to the lack of domestic coal. According to the ministry, along with the ministries of coal and railways, it monitors and coordinates on a regular basis, for an increase in the production and dispatch of coal.
The ministry has also directed all captive coal blocks to maximize their production. Imported coal-based (ICB) plants have been mandated to operate at full capacity during high demand period. Power demand has increased in the past couple of years with the recovery in economic activities post the covid-induced slowdown.
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