India's renewable power generation growth races ahead of thermal

But Omicron scare could derail electricity demand recovery

India’s power demand-and-supply metrics stand at the crossroads after navigating two years of the Covid-19 onslaught and staring at uncertainty with fresh fears of Omicron. In comparison to the non-pandemic years (2018 and 2019), there has been significant growth in renewable energy (RE) generation. But for thermal power generation (coal + gas), which forms the backbone of electricity supply, growth has been underwhelming.

For the period April-November 2021, RE generation had grown 29 per cent over the corresponding period in 2018 and 22 per cent over 2019. It had fallen marginally to grow 17 per cent over the same period in