Power Sector- Getting the Sequence Right

In 2005, many new private sector players entered the power sector. A glance at the last decade or so shows that India’s power sector has changed significantly. The total installed capacity under Central, State and Private sectors has increased 147 per cent (from 132 GW to 326 GW), with about 638 per cent addition in Renewable Energy Source based capacity (from 8 GW to 57 GW) and 154 per cent addition in Thermal capacity (from 86 GW to 218 GW), primarily coming from addition in Thermal Coal-based capacities. Private sector installed capacity increased by about 733 per cent i.e. 125 GW addition with about 69 GW coming under Thermal Coal and about 49 GW coming under Renewable Energy-based capacities.

The addition in installed capacity also led to improved energy supply position with the deficit going down from about to 10 per cent to a negligible level of about 0.66 per cent. The load shedding and demand cuts have considerably reduced across the country though widely prevalent in many states even today.

The surge in installed capacity also led to decrease in short-term power market prices which reduced from about Rs 8 per unit in 2008-09 to about Rs 2.50 per unit in 2017. In a major turn of events in September, there was a sudden spurt helped by coal supply shortfall. Read More…

India, Power Sector, Renewable Energy Source