New Delhi, August 2: India’s electricity generation saw coal’s share drop to its lowest level in a year during July. This decline is attributed to a record rise in renewable energy production, reflecting the country’s growing clean energy capacity.
Government data reveals that renewable energy accounted for 20 percent of India’s electricity generation in July, while electricity consumption remained robust.
In July, renewable electricity production surged by 30 percent year-on-year, reaching 36.25 billion kilowatt-hours, marking the highest monthly output to date.
According to daily data from Grid-India, coal’s contribution to the power mix fell from 69 percent in June to 65.7 percent in July.
This increase in renewable energy production coincided with the rapid expansion of solar and wind power. Notably, on July 13, total electricity production from solar and wind sources surpassed 100 gigawatts for the first time, fulfilling a record 42.8 percent of India’s total electricity needs.
Experts suggest that the growing role of solar power is helping to meet the rising daytime electricity demand. Manoj Kumar, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), stated, “The highest electricity demand occurs during the day when solar power contribution is significant.”
Despite the reduced share of coal in total electricity production, coal-fired plants generated 119.40 billion kilowatt-hours in July, marking a 12.8 percent increase year-on-year. This rise is attributed to strong electricity demand and lower hydro power availability.
Analysts believe that the increased coal production is due to reduced hydro power generation and the effects of El Niño. The El Niño phenomenon has led to higher temperatures, increasing the demand for cooling, particularly at night when solar power is unavailable.
The impact of El Niño has also resulted in reduced rainfall, affecting water availability and leading to a decline in hydro power production for the second consecutive month.
According to the data, the share of hydro power in electricity production has dropped to 22.1 percent. CREA indicates that the decrease in hydro power production, coupled with rising electricity demand, could create a gap of approximately 18 billion kilowatt-hours, potentially increasing reliance on coal-fired power plants in the coming months.
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