India set to see biggest jump in coal-fired power in a decade

India will add more new coal power capacity than it has in almost a decade this year, as the country rushes to deploy generation to cope with surging electricity demand.

The world’s most populous nation expects to add 15.4 gigawatts in the year through March 2025, the most in nine years, said people familiar with the matter, asking not to be named as the information isn’t yet public.

New Delhi is pursuing ambitious clean-power targets, but the reality of rapid economic growth has prolonged reliance on the dirtiest fossil fuel. Increasingly severe heat waves are making matters worse, pushing electricity consumption to fresh records every year. Coal still generates about three-quarters of India’s electricity, and the government sees it remaining the mainstay fuel for at least another decade.

India has managed to add more than 100 gigawatts of renewables capacity over the past decade, outpacing growth in thermal power generation. However, insufficient energy storage is holding back expansion of environmentally friendly electricity.

Battery storage is still not affordable in India’s competitive power market and most pumped hydro projects — an alternative storage technology — are still at a nascent stage. Other low-carbon options, such as large dams and nuclear plants are also moving at a slow pace.

India said last year that it plans to add close to 90 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity by 2032, lifting a forecast from just months before by more than half. The country has 28.5 gigawatts of coal power currently being built and more than 50 gigawatts that are planned to be awarded for construction over the next three years, according to the people.

Officials at the country’s power ministry didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.