Total installed thermal power capacity is expected to be 283 GW and non-fossil-fuel-based capacity to be 500 GW by 2031-32

 The Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy has informed that the details of coal imported by Domestic Coal-Based plants and Imported coal-based plants during last five years and the current year is as under:

 

 (All Figures in Million Tonnes)

	Receipt of Imported Coal
Period	Import by Domestic Coal based Plants (for blending)	Import by Imported Coal based Plant	Total Import	% Growth
2018-19	21.4	40.3	61.7	-
2019-20	23.8	45.5	69.2	12.3%
2020-21	10.4	35.1	45.5	-34.3%
2021-22	8.1	18.9	27.0	-40.6%
2022-23	35.1	20.5	55.6	106.1%
2023-24 (April-December)	17.1	29.5	46.6	3.9%*

*This growth is compared to the corresponding period of 2022-23.

 

During the period: April – December (2022-23), the total import was 44.8 MT [Import by Domestic Coal-based Plants (for blending): 28.8 MT + Import by Imported Coal-based Plants: 16.0 MT]

 

Power plants designed on domestic coal use imported coal for blending purpose whereas power plants designed on imported coal import coal for their fuel requirement.

 

As coal is under open general licence (OGL), power plants import coal as per their preference and source based on their commercial prudence.

 

Financial Institutions follow specific lending norms for coal-fired power stations to ensure responsible financing. These norms include maintaining a reasonable capital structure with a maximum Debt: Equity ratio of 80:20 and acceptable financial ratios like Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and debt service coverage ratio (DSCR). Funds are typically provided by consortium of lenders and loan repayment tenor is restricted to 80% of the project's economic life.

 

Besides this, Environmental compliance is a crucial aspect, with clearances required from relevant authorities such as Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, State Pollution Control Board, and others. Projects undergo a thorough analysis, considering factors like Environmental Impact Assessment, land acquisition status and potential pollution impact as well as other Statutory clearances related to coal linkage, water allocation and aviation clearance for chimney height for availing financial assistance. Funds are disbursed only upon full compliance with these conditions and documentations.

 

Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003 are guided by the model PPAs issued by the Ministry of Power for procurement of power. The model PPAs inter alia have provisions for Change in Law, Force Majeure, Tariff, Performance Security, consequences of default, Payment Security Mechanism, etc.

 

Further, Ministry of Power (MoP) has issued the following framework for Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs):

 

1. FOO (Finance, Own and Operate)
2. DBFOO (Design, Build, Finance, Own and Operate)
3. DBFOT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer)

 

In order to meet the estimated electricity demand by the year 2031-32, generation planning studies has been carried out by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) considering stressed scenario. As per the study results, it is envisaged that to meet the base load requirement of the country in 2032, the required coal & lignite based installed capacity is 283 GW against the present installed capacity of 214 GW. Considering this, Government of India proposes to set up an additional minimum 80 GW coal-based capacity by 2031-32. Currently, 26380 MW of thermal capacity is under construction, 11960 MW has been bid out and 19050 MW is under clearance.

 

The estimated capital cost for setting up of new coal-based thermal capacity as considered in National Electricity Plan is Rs 8.34 Cr/ MW (at 2021-22 price level). Hence, the thermal capacity addition is expected to entail an expenditure of minimum Rs. 6,67,200 crores by 2031-32.

 

To reduce the dependency on coal-based power plants, Government has planned to augment non fossil fuel based installed electricity generation capacity to over 5,00,000 MW by 2031-32. To achieve this objective, following steps have been taken to promote Renewable Energy in the country:

 

• Permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 percent under the automatic route;

 

• Waiver of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by 30th June 2025,

 

• Declaration of trajectory for Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) up to the year 2029-30;

 

• Setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission to RE developers for installation of RE projects at large scale;

 

• Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM), Solar Rooftop Phase II, 12000 MW CPSU Scheme Phase II;

 

• Laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity under the Green Energy Corridor Scheme for evacuation of renewable power;

 

• Notification of standards for deployment of solar photovoltaic system/devices;
• Setting up of Project Development Cell for attracting and facilitating investments;
• Standard Bidding Guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV and Wind Projects;

 

• Government has issued orders that power shall be dispatched against Letter of Credit (LC) or advance payment to ensure timely payment by distribution licensees to RE generators;

 

• Notification of Promoting Renewable Energy through Green Energy Open Access Rules 2022;

 

• Notification of “The Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and related matters) Rules (LPS rules);

 

• Launch of Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) to facilitate sale of Renewable Energy Power through exchanges;

 

• National Green Hydrogen Mission launched with an aim to make India a global hub for production, utilization and export of Green Hydrogen and its derivatives; and,

 

• Notification of prescribed trajectory for RE power bids to be issued by Renewable Energy Implementation Agencies from FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28. Under the trajectory, 50 GW/annum of RE bids to be issued.

 

Further, for reduction of emission levels of thermal power plants, following measures are taken by the Government:

 

• MoEF&CC notification dated 07.12.2015 and its subsequent amendments has notified norms in respect of reducing stack emissions such as Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), SOx & NOx from coal based Thermal Power Plants by using Electro Static Precipitator (ESP), Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD), NOx Combustion Modification, etc.

 

• Promotion of installation of efficient Ultra Supercritical/Supercritical units over Subcritical Thermal Units.

 

• Biomass co-firing- Ministry of Power has issued policy on Bio-mass Utilization for Power Generation through Co-firing in Coal based Power Plants to use 5-10% blend of biomass pellets made, primarily of agro-residue along with coal after assessing the technical feasibility.

 

The details of the percentage of electricity generated from various sources such as coal, gas, hydel and renewable energy since 2014 are given below.

 

Percentage of Electricity Generated from Various Sources

Year-Wise Generation from 2014-15 to 2023-24 (Up to Dec)
Source Name				2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24 (up to Dec)
				% of Total Gen	% of Total Gen	% of Total Gen	% of Total Gen	% of Total Gen	% of Total Gen	% of Total Gen	% of Total Gen	% of Total Gen	% of Total Gen
Conventional	Thermal		Coal	72.08	73.45	73.30	72.76	71.77	69.20	68.82	69.81	70.54	71.22
			Lignite	3.20	2.92	2.80	2.66	2.51	2.37	2.21	2.49	2.23	1.86
			Diesel	0.13	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.02
			Naptha	0.09	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00
			Natural gas	3.61	4.00	3.95	3.83	3.62	3.49	3.68	2.41	1.47	1.83
	Sub Total			79.10	80.42	80.07	79.28	77.92	75.07	74.72	74.72	74.25	74.93
	Nuclear			3.25	3.19	3.05	2.93	2.75	3.35	3.11	3.16	2.82	2.77
	Hydro			11.64	10.34	9.86	9.64	9.80	11.21	10.88	10.16	9.98	8.77
	Bhutan Import			0.45	0.45	0.45	0.37	0.32	0.42	0.63	0.50	0.42	0.36
Conventional Total				94.44	94.39	93.43	92.21	90.79	90.04	89.34	88.54	87.47	86.82
Renewable Energy		Wind		3.04	2.81	3.70	4.03	4.51	4.65	4.35	4.60	4.42	5.33
		Solar		0.42	0.63	1.09	1.98	2.85	3.61	4.37	4.93	6.28	6.44
		Biomass		0.28	0.32	0.34	0.26	0.20	0.21	0.25	0.23	0.19	0.19
		Bagasse		1.06	1.10	0.80	0.91	0.99	0.78	0.82	0.84	0.79	0.43
		Small Hydro		0.72	0.71	0.62	0.59	0.63	0.68	0.74	0.70	0.69	0.62
		Others		0.03	0.02	0.02	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.12	0.15	0.16	0.16
Renewable Energy Total				5.56	5.61	6.57	7.79	9.21	9.96	10.66	11.46	12.53	13.18
Grand Total				100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00