India to add 80 GW Thermal Power Capacity addition by 2031-32: Union Power Minister

 Officers of the Ministry of Power, state governments, Central Electricity Authority, Public Sector Enterprises under the Ministry such as NTPC, REC, PFC, as well as other PSUs such as BHEL, and industry participants including independent power producers and vendors joined the meeting.

Addressing the PSUs and industry, the Power Minister informed everyone about the government’s decision to add 80 GW thermal power capacity by the year 2031-32, and why this is crucial for meeting the nation’s power requirements.

 “Power demand of the country has increased at an unprecedented rate due to rapid growth of the economy. India needs 24x7 availability of power for its economic growth; and we are not going to compromise on availability of power for our growth. This power cannot be achieved by renewable energy sources alone”the min ister said.

He said that since nuclear capacity cannot be added at a rapid pace, we have to add coal-based thermal capacity for meeting our energy needs. We have 27 GW under construction, and we had thought that we will add another 25 GW. But we have decided that we will start work on at least 55 GW – 60 GW of thermal capacity. As demand keeps accelerating, we will keep adding this capacity.

As per the projections of National Electricity Plan for the period 2022-32, the required coal and lignite based installed capacity will be 283 GW by 2031-2032 as against the present installed capacity of 214 GW.

 Singh said that states which have thermal capacity must make sure that it is available and that any renovation, modernization or life extension for the thermal plants is done in time. “If you do not maintain your thermal capacity and instead expect us to give power from central reserve, that is not going to happen. We will allocate additional power to those states which are maintaining and running their capacities. Further, those who want to add capacities may do so.”

Thermal energy was written off a few years ago, which was premature. Thermal cannot be written off until energy storage becomes viable. So, thermal is going to stay until energy storage becomes cost-effective for Round-the-Clock supply through Renewable Energy. Hence, industry needs to ramp up thermal capacity,” the Minister added.

Echoing the Minister’s statements, Power Secretary  Pankaj Agarwal said in his opening remarks that based on National Electricity Plan projections and other analysis done by the Ministry, thermal energy is going to stay very relevant even in the year 2047.

“The country absolutely needs at least 80,000 MW of capacity addition from today till 2031-32, which is essential to meet our base load requirements. Non-solar-hours are going to be a serious challenge, in light of growing power demand and considering weather events like what we faced in August this year. Equipment providers must gear up their requirements, vendors should be strengthened and states and central entities may plan their projects”,he said.