Steps taken by the Government to add electricity generation capacity and meet future energy needs – EQ Mag
The Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy has informed that as against the scheduled generation capacity addition from conventional sources of 51,561.15 MW for the period 2017-22, capacity addition totalling to 30,667.91 MW was achieved as on 31st March, 2022.
The Minister informed that there were various reasons for slippage of the scheduled energy capacity addition during the period 2017-22, the most important one being the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from the pandemic, other major reasons were:
- Delay in land acquisitions and forest clearance
- Disruption of work due to local issues / litigations
- Delay in supply by equipment manufacturers
- Rise in steel prices delaying material availability at site
- Delay due to change in design
- Impact of monsoons and unprecedented rains
- Inadequate manpower mobilization by contractors
On the steps taken by the Government to address the gap between planned and actual capacity addition from 2017-22 and meet future energy capacity needs, the Minister informed that the Ministry of Power and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) monitor the progress of under-construction power projects through frequent site visits and interaction with the developers and other stakeholders, to identify and resolve issues which are critical for commissioning of projects.
The Minister further informed that as per National Electricity Plan (NEP) notified in May 2023 (20th Electric Power Survey), following projections have been made to meet future energy capacity needs:
The share of coal-based capacity in the total installed capacity for the year 2026-27 is likely to be 38.57% which is likely to further reduce to 28.83% for the year 2031-32. The share of Renewable Energy based capacity in the total installed capacity for the year 2026-27 is likely to be 55.20% which is likely to further increase to 66.22% for the year 2031-32.
This information has been given by the Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy Shri R. K. Singh, in a written reply to a question, in Rajya Sabha today, August 2, 2023.
