More thermal capacity needed to meet power demand, says CEA chief

New Delhi: India may need to add more coal-fired power capacity than previously projected to meet rising electricity demand, even as renewable energy additions continue at a rapid pace, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) chairperson Ghanshyam Prasad said on Tuesday.

The initial target for additional thermal capacity was 97 GW with 2023 as the reference year, which was later revised to 105 GW. Now, it is expected to rise to 115 GW, Prasad said at India Energy Summit organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce. The additional capacity is likely to be required by around FY32-FY34, he said on the sidelines of the event.

"The way the demand is growing, this figure needs to move slightly higher. It needs to be done, though the numbers aren't final yet," Prasad told reporters. "We have to have a judicious mix of all kinds of resources in the country." India's current thermal power capacity is 252.5 GW, about 45% of the total installed capacity.


Power demand in the country has grown over 10% on a year-on-year basis this year, with high cooling and irrigation demand. Peak power demand touched 271 GW in May and September. Last year, the weather was favourable with good monsoon rains, making the base lower, Prasad noted.

He said renewable energy will continue to grow at the required pace. "Last year is a very good example of renewables getting added into the systems," he added. India added over 50 GW of renewable energy capacity in FY26, the highest ever in green energy capacity in the country. "And this phenomenon will keep on growing almost every year, with capacity addition of more than 50 GW each year coming from renewable energy itself," Prasad said.

With the plant load factor of coal-based units running high this year, the concern is also of fuel availability because of the sharp stock depletion in the last few months. Many of the thermal power plants have not been able to take maintenance shutdowns because of the high-power demand, which started as early as March this year. "We are not finding time to put them on the maintenance cycle... But we have been able to manage them [challenges] in a much better manner," Prasad said.

Addressing the session, NTPC chairman and managing director Gurdeep Singh said the high power demand situation is because of the El Nino condition and economic growth. Going forward, the artificial intelligence (AI) and data centre boom will also contribute to the demand, he said. "I am not including electric vehicles, but I think the cooling load is one thing which all of us will start facing... This is going to really be a push to the demand," Singh said.