Centre's plan to revive gas power plants put on hold
India's plan to revive gas-based power plants has been put on hold by the Ministry of Power due to high power tariffs. RK Singh, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, told Moneycontrol that the cost of gas-based power generation is significantly higher than renewable and thermal power sources. However, the government will still utilize some gas-based power for peak and balancing needs, as it did in 2023.
Gas-based power costs around Rs. 13-14 per unit
Singh revealed that gas-based power costs around Rs. 13-14 per unit, while renewable energy-based power is available at Rs. 2.4/unit and thermal-based power at Rs. 4/unit. Limited gas availability has also been a major factor for these plants not being operational. The requirement of gas for these power plants is about 115 million metric standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD). From April 2022 to January 2023, the power sector received only about 16.14 MMSCMD of gas, according to Moneycontrol.
India's renewable energy goals
India's goal is to achieve an installed RE capacity of 500GW by 2030 and increase coal-fired capacity by 80GW before 2030. The peak power demand is expected to reach 335GW in 2029-30. In 2023, the demand reached nearly 241GW, surpassing the government's projection of 230GW. To address peak demand during summer, the government approved a mechanism to operationalize around 5,000MW NTPC gas-based capacity and tendered to procure an additional 4,000MW of power from gas-based capacity (excluding NTPC plants).
