Key facts
- Half of India's coal power plants have critically low coal stocks.
- 96 plants have only three days of consumption stock.
- Coal stocks declined 5% in October.
- September supply-demand gap for coal was 560 million kWh.
India's power generators are facing a significant coal supply shortage, with nearly half of the country's coal power plants operating on critically low reserves. This situation is exacerbated by higher-than-usual electricity demand driven by unseasonably warm weather. Data from India's Central Electricity Authority indicates that 96 coal power plants now have only three days of coal stock, an increase from 60 plants in mid-September. Total coal stocks at power plants have declined by 5% since the start of October, despite a 13.3% increase in coal power generation last month. The gap between supply and demand in September reached 560 million kWh, the highest imbalance since August 2023. Daily electricity demand this year has been running 45-50 GW higher than in the previous year. The International Energy Agency forecasts India's total coal demand to rise 4.2% to 1.353 billion tons this year. The rapid expansion of solar power is not mitigating the issue as installations lack battery storage, making output weather-dependent and disconnected from demand.