India is speeding up the commissioning of wind farms and battery storage systems as its natural gas supply is slashed amid the war in the Middle East, India’s junior power minister Shripad Naik said on Monday.
“Presently, there are challenges in respect of availability and price volatility of natural gas due to the Middle East crisis. However, the generators are exploring alternate sources,” Naik told the Parliament today, as carried by Reuters.
The country slashed gas supply to industry early this month, following the war in the Middle East and Qatar’s force majeure on LNG deliveries after it stopped liquefaction and later its major LNG complex at Ras Laffan was hit by Iranian missiles. Damages were extensive, QatarEnergy said, noting that it would lose $20 billion in annual revenues due to the attacks, with repairs potentially taking up to five years to complete.
Due to the lower natural gas supply, India is leaning on a higher share of renewables and its backup fuel for power generation—coal, which continues to deliver more than half of power output and will likely account for much more this summer.
India’s Power Minister last week ordered coal-fired power plants to run at full capacity for three months starting April 1, to be prepared to meet peak power demand during the coming summer.
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India is expected to see peak summer demand of 270 gigawatts (GW) this year, which would beat the previous record-high demand of 250 GW from May 2024.
Still, solid coal capacity and rising share of renewable energy generation are expected to compensate the lower gas-fired generation. While gas doesn’t have a large share in the power generation mix, it is flexible fuel in plants that could meet peak demand.
This summer, coal will play that role, once again, as India is keen to avoid blackouts amid lower gas supply due to the Middle East war and the resulting sky-high spot LNG prices.
India’s power system is prepared to meet peak summer demand, the junior power minister told Parliament today.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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