By Reuters
CHENNAI - India’s solar and gas-fired electricity generation rose in April even as overall power demand fell at the steepest monthly rate in at least thirteen years, a Reuters analysis of provisional government data showed.
Workers clean photovoltaic panels inside a solar power plant in Gujarat, India, July 2, 2015. (REUTERS/Amit Dave / MANILA BULLETIN)
Solar-powered electricity generation rose 16.9%, accounting for a record 5.6% of the country’s total output, while gas-fired power output was 13.7% higher, an analysis of daily load despatch data from state-run power operator POSOCO showed. However, wind-powered electricity generation fell 11.4%.
Electricity generation from coal - India’s primary source of electricity - fell 32.3% to 1.91 billion units per day, the data showed, with its contribution to overall electricity generation falling to 65.5%, compared with an average of over 73.7% last year.
“Solar production was ramped up in the southern states, while gas-fired power plant operators in the west used cheap imported gas to address peak demand,” a senior power ministry official said, adding that many coal-fired utilities were shut for maintenance.