India’s coal power no longer viable beyond NEP 2032 targets - Ember

Core Insights - India's power sector is undergoing a significant transformation with an increasing share of renewable energy and storage technologies in the energy mix [1] - Coal is transitioning from a baseload provider to a flexible balancing resource, which has economic implications for coal-based power generation [2][3] Group 1: Energy Transition - The National Electricity Plan (NEP) 2032 indicates that India is on track to meet its generation mix targets for solar, coal, and hydro power, but there is a need for growth in pumped-storage hydropower and battery energy storage systems [2] - Nuclear energy is projected to fall short of its targets according to the report [2] Group 2: Cost Implications - By fiscal year 2031-32, the cost of coal-based electricity is expected to be approximately 25% higher than in fiscal year 2024-25 [3] - The demand for coal plants during daytime hours is expected to decrease due to higher solar penetration, leading to coal plants operating closer to their minimum technical thresholds [4] Group 3: Plant Efficiency - Plant load factors for coal-based power are anticipated to fall to 55%, resulting in fixed costs being spread over fewer units of generation, thus increasing the actual cost of coal power [5] - In contrast, renewable energy solutions paired with battery storage are becoming more competitive, offering tariffs between Rs4.3 to Rs5.8 ($0.04 to $0.06) per kilowatt-hour [5] Group 4: Future Planning - India can achieve reliability and flexibility in its power sector without constructing new coal plants, focusing instead on enhancing system flexibility through storage solutions and operational reforms [6]