National Electricity Plan: No coal expansion, renewable capacity to dominate in India by 2031-32
India will not add any new coal capacity in the next five years, except for the plants already at various planning stages. The latest National Electricity Plan for 2022-32 (NEP) was released May 31 by Union Ministry of Power (MoP). The MoP revisits the NEP every five years to forecast the country’s power generation, transmission and demand trajectory for the coming decade.
The NEP announced plans to increase the overall contribution of non-fossil power generation. Its capacity will be hiked to 68.4 per cent from 40 per cent at present by 2031-32.
The NEP considered four scenarios for energy generation in the country. In them, coal capacity continues to grow till 2031-32, albeit by a small margin compared to the growth in renewable installed capacity.
Coal-based power capacity will vary from 19.1 gigawatt to about 27.1 GW across various scenarios. On the other hand, renewable energy capacity is expected to double the current levels and surpass coal capacity by 2031-32.
The capacity additions forecasts considered the impact of factors like energy efficiency, penetration of electric vehicles and production of green hydrogen on peak and energy demands.