A prescription for boosting thermal power demand

By 2030, India aims to have 40% of its electricity generation capacity to be of renewable origin

By 2030, India aims to have 40 per cent of its electricity generation capacity to be of renewable origin. With such energy becoming increasingly competitive, demand for conventional thermal power is set to trip.

Today, 25 Gw of untied thermal power capacity, and another 25 Gw is expected to come up in the next three to five years in the private sector, entailing an investment of Rs 2.5 lakh crore, could end up being stranded.

With sluggish demand, the average Plant Load Factor (PLF) for coal-based power plants has steadily declined from 78.9 per cent1 in fiscal year 2008 to sub 60