IEA report: Coal power generation in India likely to rise

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in a report said that due to the growing fleet of coal power plants and strong power demand, India's coal-fired power generation will continue to rise.

As per the IEA, Coal-fired power generation in India may grow at nearly 4% per year through 2022, and import of thermal coal is likely to decrease in the light of the diverse initiatives being taken by the government of India to reduce coal imports.

India's renewable energy capacity to double by 2022: IEA

Key points
As per the report, the import of coking coal is projected to raise over 5%  per year through 2022 on account of increasing steel consumption in industries such as defense, shipbuilding and vehicle manufacturing as well in railways and housing.

The International Energy Agency also noted that global demand for coal should remain nearly flat between 2017 and 2022, resulting in a decade of stagnation for coal consumption.

It said that while everything else is changing, global coal demand remains the same; despite of the energy system is growing at a hurried pace all around, with a more diversifying fuel mix, and the cost of technologies going down.

The report also pointed out that India is expected to have a strong growth in the deployment of renewable energy but that will not meet the expanding appetite for energy in a strongly growing economy and the gap will be filled by coal.

On the sustainability of it, and despite Carbon Capture, storage, and utilisation being a proven technology around the world, its deployment lags behind other low emissions technologies and needs urgent global action if it is to meet its climate change mitigation potential.

India’s power generation
In India's total power generation capacity, Coal based thermal power plants comprise 67%, further coal-based electricity forms 80%b of power on the electrical grid.
Coal is likely to stay the foundation of India's power generation for next two to three decades.

India declares its Association status with International Energy Agency

International Energy Agency (IEA)
International Energy Agency ensures the affordable, reliable and clean energy for its 29 member countries and beyond. Its mission is guided by four main areas of focus: economic development, energy security, environmental awareness and engagement worldwide.
To become a member of IEA, the country has to meet a number of criteria related to energy security. The IEA, at present, has 29 member, 2 accession countries, and 7 association countries.