NEW DELHI, April 27 (Reuters) – India ramped up coal and gas-fired power generation last week as peak demand hit a record 256.1 gigawatts (GW) over the weekend amid a heatwave, official data showed.
- India’s peak power demand rose to a record 256.1 GW on April 25, up from the previous day’s record of 252.08 GW, federal grid data showed.
- India operated about 9.6 GW of gas-fired capacity and ramped up coal-fired generation to around 187 GW, Grid-India data showed.
- NTPC, India’s top thermal power producer, is procuring gas through the Indian Gas Exchange and operating plants as advised by Grid-India, an official said.
- Forecasts of the strongest El Nino weather phenomenon in a decade are expected to drive hotter, drier weather across Asia.
- India expects peak power demand to reach around 270 GW this year and is confident of meeting it.
- India is likely to rely more on coal and has deferred maintenance of nearly 10,000 megawatts of coal-fired capacity to July.
