India's power generation rose at the highest rate in more than three decades in the just ended fiscal year, fueling a steep increase in emissions as output from both coal-fired and renewable plants touched records. A rise in electricity consumption was caused by intense summer heatwaves, a colder-than-normal winter in northern India, and an economic rebound. India was forced to increase output from coal plants and solar farms in an effort to prevent power outages.
The fiscal year ending in March 2023 saw an increase in power generation of 11.5% to 1,591.11 billion kWh, or units, the highest growth since the year ended in March 1990, according to an
examination of daily load data from regulator Grid-India. The data indicated that coal electricity production increased by 12.4%, countering a 28.7% fall in generation from cleaner gas-fired plants as a global spike in LNG prices discouraged usage. This was the fastest gain in over three decades for fossil fuel plants. It is anticipated that Indian power plants will burn 8% more coal in the new fiscal year, which started on April 1. India is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, and the country's rapid increase in coal-fired output to meet an increase in power demand highlights the difficulties it faces in weaning its economy off carbon while attempting to provide energy security for its approximately 1.4 billion people.
The total amount of energy delivered during the most recent fiscal year was 1509.15 billion kWh, an increase of 8.4% from the previous year but still 6.69 billion units short of what was needed, the largest shortfall in six years. The data showed that coal-generated electricity increased to 1,162.91 billion kWh, and that coal's contribution to total output increased to 73.1%, the highest level since the year ending in March 2019.
India's Central Electricity Authority, producing 1 million kWh of electricity from coal results in the production of 975 tonnes of carbon dioxide, compared to 475 tonnes for producing the same amount of electricity from gas. In order to generate the same amount of energy, a lignite plant, often known as brown coal, must emit 1,280 tonnes.
