Cheap renewable energy is killing India's coal-based power plants.
Renewable energy prices in India are crashing, leaving coal-based power plants in the country financially unviable in their wake.
Over the last year, wind and solar power tariffs have fallen to a record low of around Rs2.4 per unit, much lower than the average of Rs3.7 per unit at which analysts say coal-based power is currently being sold on India’s power exchanges.
As a result, coal-based power plants are falling out of favour with power distribution companies (discoms).
“The (coal-based power) plants are ready but… no discom was coming forward for long-term PPAs (power purchase agreements) because they were getting power at a cheaper rate from renewable sources,” Sudhir Kumar, associate director at CARE Ratings, told Quartz.
Last financial year, for the first time, India added more power capacity from renewable sources than coal.
Of India’s approximately 197,100 megawatts (MW) of coal-based power capacity, nearly 40,000 MW—or 20% of the plants—have been termed stressed assets, and a fourth of these have turned unviable, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, secretary of the ministry of power, told BloombergQuint in an interview on May 08.
The Narendra Modi government examined India’s stressed power plants to assess the extent to which they’re financially viable. It found that financial problems with around 10,000 MW have been resolved, and another 10,000 MW of capacity is beyond redemption, Bhalla said. The remaining 20,000 MW is still under examination.
https://qz.com/1272394/cheap-solar-and-wind-energy-prices-are-killing-indias-coal-power-plants/
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Coal supplies three quarters of India's electricity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_India
India's electric infrastructure is a mess. They have trouble delivering electricity reliably, especial to rural areas. That makes it difficult to run coal plants reliably.
The most common response to unreliable electric service, at least among the moneyed classes, is to install incredibly dirty and noisy diesel generators. Air pollution in India is horrible.
Another approach is to install solar panels and wretched lead acid battery storage. The situation is improving, but lead acid battery recycling has poisoned entire communities in India. Some recyclers are as basic as children breaking open batteries and melting down the lead in open smelters, poisoning themselves and the entire neighborhhod. Lead acid batteries typically last less than a decade before they have to be recycled. Most NGOs no longer support solar and wind power systems that rely on lead batteries for this reason.
Another problem is un-metered connections to the electric grid. The books of India's electrical power industry are not going to balance when people are using electricity and not paying for it. Who needs an electric meter when you can run your own wires off the nearest utility pole???
https://dailyreporter.com/2009/07/06/indian-officials-wage-war-on-energy-theft/
India is no renewable energy utopia.
