National Electricity Plan revised to make room for more coal

The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has revised the National Electricity Plan (NEP) after getting feedback from more than 30 state-owned and private institutions, mostly questioning the redundancy of coal. From retiring coal-based power completely, the CEA has said India would need 6,440 Mw thermal power during 2017-22.

In the earlier version of the NEP, which was out in 2017, the CEA had said the country did not need coal-based capacity addition till 2022.

However, the CEA said coal-based power projects of 47,855 Mw were likely to yield benefits during the period 2017-22. They are currently under different stages of construction. This translates into a likely capacity addition of 176,140 Mw in the next five years, according to the plan.

The plan has made capacity addition assumption based on projected growth in power demand of 6 per cent annually till 2022. Growth will, however, slow to 5.5 per cent till 2027. The plan has discounted the effect of electric mobility on the electricity demand in the coming years, indicating no significant change in government policy for promoting of electric vehicles.

The total coal requirement in the year 2021-22 and 2026-27 has been estimated at 735 million tonnes (mt) and 877 mt, respectively, including imported coal of 50 mt.