India has missed attaining its conventional power generation capacity addition target in FY20, by a rather wide margin, latest CEA statistics suggest.
For FY20, India had a power generation capacity addition target of 12,186 mw against which only 7,065 mw was achieved. This implies target-achievement of just 58 per cent.
In fact, this is the third straight year where India has failed to meet its generation capacity targets. What is worse is that the shortfall in FY20 is more acute. In FY19, as against the target of 8106 mw, the actual addition was 5,922 mw, which mean achievement of 73.1 per cent. Even in FY18, though the target could not be attained, the achievement was 72.2 per cent. (See table).
In FY20, much of the targeted 12,186 mw was to come from thermal power projects, that too by Central and state government utilities. These entities were supposed to add 10,296 mw of thermal power generation capacity, accounting for 84.5 per cent of the total capacity envisaged for addition. However, the actual addition (including 45 mw of unplanned thermal capacity addition by the private sector) stood at only 6,765 mw.
This 6,765 mw more or less accounted for the entire capacity addition in FY20, with just 300 mw coming from new hydropower capacity and nuclear power making nil contribution.
It may be recalled that during the XII Plan period (FY13 to FY17), India had targeted to add 88,537 mw of new conventional power generation capacity. As against this, the actual addition was 12.1 per cent higher; standing at 99,209 mw.
Industry experts suggest that the ongoing thrust being on renewable energy projects—mainly solar and wind—conventional power plants are falling in priority.
| Power Generation Capacity Addition from Conventional Sources | ||||
| (MW) | ||||
| FY20 | FY19 | FY18 | XII Plan Period (FY13 to FY17) |
|
| Target | 12,186 | 8,106 | 13,171 | 88,537 |
| Actual | 7,065 | 5,922 | 9,505 | 99,209 |
| % achieved | 58.0 | 73.1 | 72.2 | 112.1 |
The capacity mix
As of March 31, 2020, India had an installed power generation capacity of 370,048 mw, including conventional sources and renewable energy sources.
Here are some highlighting features:
- Thermal power generation capacity accounted for 62.4 per cent of the total power generation capacity. In terms of actual capacity, thermal plants aggregated 230,810 mw.
- Renewable energy sources (mainly wind and solar) had an installed power generation capacity of 86,759 mw, making a share of 23.4 per cent. However, in terms of electricity generation, the share of renewables is around 10 per cent. This is primarily because renewable energy-based power generation plants operate at a much lower PLF than conventional plants.
- Hydropower capacity was 45,699 mw, commanding a share of 12.3 per cent. [This includes only those hydropower plants with capacity exceeding 25 mw. Those below 25 mw fall under the category of renewable energy sources.]
- Considering even large hydropower plants as renewable source of energy, which they technically are, the share of renewable energy sources works out to nearly 36 per cent, in terms of installed capacity.
- Much of India’s power generation capacity is today in the hands of the private sector. Including both conventional and renewable energy sources, the share of the private sector is 46.8 per cent, making it the single largest ownership group after Central government (25.3 per cent) and state government (28 per cent).
| All India Installed Power Generation Capacity: As of March 31, 2020 | ||||||
| (MW) | ||||||
| Thermal | Hydro | Nuclear | RES | Total | % share* | |
| Central | 69,718 | 15,347 | 6,780 | 1,632 | 93,477 | 25.3 |
| State | 74,216 | 26,959 | 0 | 2,357 | 103,532 | 28.0 |
| Private | 86,875 | 3,394 | 0 | 82,770 | 173,039 | 46.8 |
| Total | 230,810 | 45,699 | 6,780 | 86,759 | 370,048 | 100.0 |
| % share** | 62.4 | 12.3 | 1.8 | 23.4 | 100.0 | |
| Note: | ||||||
| *% share with respect to ownership | ||||||
| **% share with respect to type of generation capacity | ||||||
| RES = renewable energy sources | ||||||
Featured photograph for illustration only.
