India’s power demand has been growing rapidly. This summer, the country hit an all-time high peak demand of 250 GW, up from 240 GW the previous year. This trend is expected to continue, with peak demand projected to reach 334GW by 2029-30, while the overall energy need will rise to 2,279 BUs.
To meet the power demand, the country has to rely on both thermal and renewable energy sources. In the thermal power segment, as per the CEA, coalbased power plants aggregating 28 GW of capacity are under construction, while in the renewable energy segment, around 89 GW of capacity is under construction. The pace of commissioning generation capacity is expected to
pick up in the coming years.
While the renewable energy segment will remain the key driver of generation capacity addition, the thermal segment is expected to witness new project announcements going forward, given the healthy demand growth. The government has proposed to set up a minimum of 80 GW of additional coal-based capacity by 2031-32. Additionally, augmenting round-the-clock power and
developing large-scale energy storage projects in both the pumped storage and battery energy storage segments are a must to ensure reliable and uninterrupted power supply in the country.
Moreover, the operations of thermal power plants need a significant overhaul. Shifting away from baseload operations, TPPs now need to undergo flexible operations characterised by frequent ramping of operations. To optimise plant performance under the new regime, retrofitting and upgrading plant equipment and re-engineering maintenance strategies and schedules
to maintain plant performance are essential.
Power Line’s Infocus and Special Section on thermal generation and renewable energy respectively explore the new and emerging trends and recent developments in these segments, as well as the major issues, challenges and the future outlook.