Category: Electricity and Power Generation

India’s total electricity generation rose 11% year-on-year to 536 billion units (BU) in July-September, while renewable power output crossed 100 BU in a quarter for the first time, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Renewable generation, excluding large hydropower, reached 101 BU in the second quarter of FY27, reflecting clean energy’s growing contribution as peak power demand hit a record 270 GW.

Combined generation from non-fossil sources, including renewables, large hydro and nuclear power, rose to a record 177 BU from 163 BU a year earlier, the report titled ‘India Energy Snapshot for Q2 FY2026–27’ said.

Meanwhile, solar was the fastest-growing major power source, with generation rising 39 per cent year-on-year to 51 BU.

Wind generation increased 29 per cent to 45 BU, while solar accounted for 10 per cent of India’s total electricity generation during the quarter for the first time. Solar output also hit a daily record of 705 million units on September 30.

Non-fossil sources accounted for around 33 per cent of total electricity generation in the quarter, while coal continued to supply most of the power.

The report also flagged a mismatch between coal consumption and supplies to power plants, with inventories falling even as electricity demand increased.

Coal stocks remain under pressure

Coal stocks at power plants declined to 21 million tonnes on September 30, equivalent to just 36 per cent of the normative requirement of 58 million tonnes.

The number of plants with stocks below 25 per cent of their prescribed requirement rose from 32 on August 22 to 91 on October 6, according to the report’s accompanying release.

Coal consumption also remained broadly stable at around 79 million tonnes a month from May through September.

However, coal dispatch to power plants fell from 74 million tonnes in May to 66 million tonnes in August, while average railway rake loading declined from around 290 rakes a day in June to 280 in August before increasing sharply in early September.

Despite peak demand reaching 270 GW on July 16, coal power plant utilisation stood at 68 per cent in the second quarter, down from 73 per cent in the preceding quarter, the release said.

“Even with national peak demand reaching a record 270 GW, India’s coal power plants only reached 68 per cent of their utilisation rate in Q2 FY2026-27,” said Manoj Kumar, India analyst at CREA.

As solar increasingly meets daytime demand and storage helps supply electricity during evening and night-time peaks, new thermal capacity should be assessed against projected demand, renewable generation and storage availability, he said.

This would help avoid investments in capacity that could remain underutilised as the power system evolves.

Renewable capacity additions outpace thermal

India’s installed power capacity reached 555 GW in August 2026, with non-fossil sources accounting for around 55 per cent of the total. Renewable capacity excluding large hydro stood at 243 GW, including 168 GW of solar capacity.

Renewable capacity additions also outpaced thermal additions in the second quarter of FY27, with around 7 GW of renewable capacity added against 0.8 GW of thermal capacity.

The country’s energy storage pipeline is expanding, with around 290 GWh of capacity tendered by August, including pumped storage and battery energy storage systems, the report stated.

Operational battery storage stood at around 9.1 GWh, contributing up to 5.5 GW during periods of night-time peak demand.

The report also estimated that around 1,835 million units of renewable electricity, including 1,462 million units of solar and 373 million units of wind power, were curtailed during July and August due to grid and operational constraints.