India power shortfall hits three-year peak despite higher coal burn

India's power shortages surged to more than a three-year high in September, despite coal-fired plants operating at higher capacity for a sixth straight month to meet surging demand due to an El Nino weather pattern and industrial activity, government data showed.

India's power shortages rose to 560 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) in September, the highest since August 2023, according to Reuters calculations of daily data from the regulator, Grid-India.

A decline in hydro power generation due to weaker rainfall, coupled with a lack of battery storage to house clean power generated during the day, has led to increased coal burning, analysts said.


Coal-fired generation rose 13.3% in September from a year ago, with its share in overall generation rising to 66.03% in September from 64.6% in August, the data showed.

Renewable power generation also rose 25.1% to 29.62 billion kWh last month.

However, the share of clean energy in overall power generation dropped to about 17% from 19.5% in August.

About two out of five coal plants are operating with critically low fuel stocks, according to separate government data.

"A rise in peak power demand in September, driven by higher industrial consumption, coupled with several power plants undergoing maintenance, led to power shortages," said Rupesh Sankhe, a research analyst at Elara Securities.

India's overall electricity generation in September rose 11.3% from a year earlier to 174.17 billion kWh, the Grid-India data showed.