Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Power has envisaged to set up an additional minimum 97,000 MW coal and lignite-based thermal power generation capacity in the country to meet the projected electricity demand, the Centre has said.
According to studies carried out by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the projected thermal (coal and lignite) capacity requirement by the year 2034–35 is estimated at nearly 3,07,000 MW as against the 2,11,855 MW installed capacity as on March 31, 2023.
The setting up of the new capacity will help to meet this gap, Minister of State (MoS) for Power Shripad Naik said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. As against this requirement, thermal capacities of around 17,360 MW have already been commissioned since April 2023 till January 20, 2026.
“In addition, 39,545 MW of thermal capacity (including 4,845 MW of stressed thermal power projects) is currently under construction. The contracts of 22,920 MW have been awarded and are due for construction. Further, 24,020 MW of coal and lignite-based candidate capacity has been identified, which is at various stages of planning in the country,” Naik added.
“The projected Plant Load Factor (PLF) of coal-based plants by the year 2031-32 is estimated to be around 61 per cent. However, PLF of coal-based power plants will depend on a number of factors like the increase in electricity demand, actual coal based and renewable energy capacity materialising,” he said.