India’s Power Demand Hits Record High As Heat Drives Coal Use

Submitted by Irina Slav of OilPrice.com

India’s power generation rose to a new all-time high amid hot weather that drove air-conditioning demand up, with thermal generation, most of its coming from coal power plants, covering 62% of demand.

Power demand on Thursday hit 271 GW, on the “fourth consecutive day when the peak power demand (solar hours) reached a new all-time high,” India’s power ministry said, as quoted by AFP.

After milder temperatures tempered demand growth in the fiscal year to March 2026 to the lowest level in six years, demand is now beating peak consumption records amid heat waves at the start of this year’s summer.

India’s coal demand from power plants is set to rise by 11.5% in the April to June quarter amid the peak electricity demand season in the country in May and June, sources with knowledge of the matter told the Economic Times in April.

Besides coal, which dominated India’s grid this week, solar power covered 22% of demand, the power ministry also said, while hydro and wind provided another 5% each. India has been putting a lot of effort into diversifying its sources of electricity to reduce its reliance on imported fuels and cut emissions, of which it is the third-largest generator in the world.

India expects to nearly quadruple its solar power capacity and triple wind power-generating assets within ten years, according to the new Generation Adequacy Plan published by the country’s Central Electricity Authority earlier this year.

Challenges, however, remain, mostly in transmission, reflecting the broader global picture, where grid upgrades lag behind wind and solar installations, prompting so-called curtailment, which in the first quarter of the year reached 300 GWh. Coal-fired power generation and capacity installations, meanwhile, continue to rise, and coal remains a key pillar of India’s electricity mix, with about 60% share of total power output.