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Maguire: King coal will remain the top-ranked fuel in India, despite a new clean energy pipeline

India is the second largest clean energy capacity development pipeline in the world after China. Nearly 56,000 megawatts worth of new renewables and nuclear power capacity are currently under construction.

Global Energy Monitor data shows that clean energy sources make up two-thirds (or 68%) of all new power capacity being developed in India. This will lead to a 35 percent increase in the total amount of clean power available once completed.

The country is building 30,000 MW new coal-fired power capacity. This will ensure that coal remains India's main energy source, even after the construction boom.

India's heavy reliance on coal in its power system highlights the challenge faced by fast-growing economies who need to increase their energy supply to homes and businesses as quickly and cheaply as possible.

According to Ember, the expanded coal capacity is expected to further increase India's coal-powered emissions. These are set to reach a new record in 2024, with over 1.2 billion tons of CO2.

GROWTH SPURT

India's coal dependence is primarily due to the rapid growth of its energy demand, which has increased in tandem with India's economy.

According to the Energy Institute, India's primary electricity consumption has increased by an average 7% per year since 2021.

This growth rate was twice as high as the global average and exceeded China's pace of 5%. The result is that power grids are regularly strained.

India's utilities, along with the government, have invested heavily in increasing total power production and supply.

GEM data indicates that Indian power companies are building nearly 29.000 MW solar, 6.300 MW wind, 15,000.MW hydro, and almost 6,000 MW nuclear power capacity.

The country also has 35,000 MW solar, 6,000MW wind, 45,000MW hydro, and 26,000MW nuclear projects in the so-called "pre-construction" stage, where permits are being obtained prior to groundbreaking.

According to GEM, India has a total of 167,000 MW in clean energy capacity that is in advanced planning. This is more than the 166,000MW in clean energy capacity in the United States at the same development stage.

India's clean energy capacity will increase by over 100% once all the current and pre-construction projects are completed. This would be equivalent to 330,000 MW.

COAL IS ALSO HEELED BY THE RISING TIDE

India's fossil fuel-based power is also expected to expand.

Indian power companies have almost 55,000 MW in coal capacity pre-construction, on top of the 30,000 MW coal capacity currently under construction.

The cumulative development load is expected to increase India's coal-fired power capacity to over 355,000 MW. This means that coal power continues to represent more than half of India’s total power generation capacity, even after planned project completion.

Indian power companies, who rely on local coal mines for 75% of their coal supply, will consume even more coal as a result of the larger footprint.

Imports of coal, mostly from Indonesia, are required to meet the remaining volume.

Once the current coal power plants are completed, demand for domestic supplies as well as imports is expected to increase dramatically.

Over 20,000 MW new coal power is located in inland areas, where local miners are the main service providers. Meanwhile, over 6,000MW new coal capacity can be imported from India's coasts to the south and southeast.

This means that India's energy firms will continue to rely on coal for their primary source of electricity generation, even though they can expect a big jump in the supply of clean power over the next few years. These are the opinions of a market analyst at.

(source: Reuters)