India’s power shortfall surged to a three-year high in September as El Niño and industrial electricity demand drove consumption higher.
Last month, India’s power shortages jumped to 560 million kilowatt-hours (kWh). This was the highest level since August 2023, Reuters calculations of daily data from the regulator Grid-India showed on Thursday.
Total electricity generation increased by 11.3% in September from a year earlier to 174.17 billion kWh, according to the data.
Coal-fired and renewable energy generation both rose compared to last year’s levels, but higher residential and industrial demand and El Niño, resulting in low rainfall and higher temperatures, affected the Indian mix.
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The shortfall occurred even as India’s coal-fired power plants have been operating at increased capacity for months to meet soaring demand and offset lower generation from hydropower facilities amid weaker rainfall levels.
India’s coal-fired generation went up 13.3% in September year over year, and its share of total electricity generation increased to 66.03% in September from 64.6% in August, according to the data compiled by Reuters.
Renewable power generation also jumped, by 25.1%, but the share of clean power in India’s electricity generation fell to 17% last month from 19.5% in August.
Separately, the share of coal-fired power plants in India running on critically low levels of coal inventory has soared in recent weeks to nearly 40% of all operational coal plants.
Many coal-fired power plants in India, where coal is still the single largest electricity generator, saw their coal stocks fall below the critically low level of 25% as electricity demand rises amid the strong El Niño, but supply has been disrupted by monsoon rains.
Amid higher power demand and oil and gas disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz, India will see a 4.2% rise in its total coal demand to 1.353 billion tons this year, reversing last year’s temporary slight drop, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Coal Mid-Year Update 2026 published last month.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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