Official statistics indicate that renewable energy sources like solar and wind have accounted for a higher proportion in electricity generation during the early months of the current fiscal year.
According to latest statistics released by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the share of renewables in the country’s total electricity generation has risen to 11.7 per cent during the first two months (April-May) of FY21, from its comparable 9.0 per cent in FY20.
Driven by solar and wind, total electricity generated from renewable energy sources stood at an estimated 23.449 billion kwh in the April-May period of FY21. In the same period of FY20, the corresponding figure was 22.312 billion kwh.
| Electricity Generation | |||
| (billion kwh) | |||
| Source | Apr-May | % chg | |
| FY20 | FY21 | ||
| Thermal | 193.500 | 144.486 | -25.3 |
| Nuclear | 7.070 | 7.628 | 7.9 |
| Hydro | 25.150 | 24.143 | -4.0 |
| Import from Bhutan | 0.580 | 1.059 | 82.6 |
| Total Conventional (A) | 226.300 | 177.316 | -21.6 |
| Renewables (B) | 22.312 | 23.449 | 5.1 |
| Grand Total (A+B) | 248.612 | 200.765 | -19.2 |
It is also encouraging to note that while electricity generation from conventional sources was down 21.6 per cent, following lower demand in the COVID-19 lockdown period, output from renewable energy plants was in fact 5.1 per cent higher. This is explained partly by the fact that the “must-run” status of renewable energy plants continued during the lockdown period.
The trend of higher share of renewables appears to have continued in June 2020 as well. According to a report by ICICI Securities, the proportion of electricity generated from renewable energy-based plants was maintained at 11.7 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of FY21 as against 9.6 per cent in the first quarter of FY20. It may be recalled that in FY20 as a whole, renewable energy plants accounted for 9.9 per cent of the total electricity generated, as compared with 9.2 per cent in FY19.
Electricity demand revives
Reliable reports suggest that India’s daily electricity demand was 3,831 million kwh on July 1, 2020, up nearly 50 per cent from the low of 2,581 million kwh seen on April 8, 2020. In fact, the demand on July 1, 2020, was only 2.1 per cent lower than that on July 1, 2019.
Peak demand on July 1, 2020 touched 167 GW, up 35 per cent from 123 GW on April 1, 2020, and only 2.6 per cent lower than that on July 1, 2019.
