By Sethuraman N R
NEW DELHI, April 27 (Reuters) – India ramped up coal and gas-fired power generation last week as peak demand hit a record 256.1 gigawatts (GW) over the weekend amid a heatwave, official data showed.
• India’s peak power demand rose to a record 256.1 GW on April 25, up from the previous day’s record of 252.08 GW, federal grid data showed.
• India operated about 9.6 GW of gas-fired capacity and ramped up coal-fired generation to around 187 GW, Grid-India data showed.
• NTPC, India’s top thermal power producer, is procuring gas through the Indian Gas Exchange and operating plants as advised by Grid-India, an official said.
• Forecasts of the strongest El Nino weather phenomenon in a decade are expected to drive hotter, drier weather across Asia.
• India expects peak power demand to reach around 270 GW this year and is confident of meeting it.
• India is likely to rely more on coal and has deferred maintenance of nearly 10,000 megawatts of coal-fired capacity to July.
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(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
