New coal-fired power plants in India economically unviable: IEEFA report

08 Jun 2021 CW Team

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has warned that much of India's 33 GW of coal-fired power capacity under construction and another 29 GW in the pre-construction stage will end up stranded.

According to a report, new coal-fired power plants being built in India will soon be "economically unviable".

The country has been continuing to back the high-polluting fossil fuels in spite of its ambitious renewable energy targets and global efforts to decrease emissions. The country is the third-highest emitter.

India's Central Electricity Authority (CEA) advises the government on technical matters related to the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. Despite the headwinds facing the coal industry, it still projects the country would reach 267 GW of coal-fired capacity by 2030. But to accomplish that scale up by the end of the decade, the nation would need to add 58 GW of net new capacity additions or about 6.4 GW annually.

IEEFA claims that it is highly improbable for the CEA's projections to materialise provided the ongoing operational and financial stress in the Thermal Power Sector. It believes that India's coal capacity requirements must be revised urgently.

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Also read: Coal power plants to continue despite promises to curb pollution

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