Thermal Power To Remain Until Continuous Renewable Energy Availability: RK Singh
Union Power Minister RK Singh on Monday has said the intermittent nature of energy supply from renewable sources and stated that conventional thermal power capacity will remain crucial until continuous renewable power is available.
During a press conference centred around the meeting between the ministers of state power and new and renewable energy, Singh emphasised that no compromise would be made in guaranteeing the continuous provision of power to the residents of the country.
In addition, he emphasised that the capacity for renewable energy will increase more than that of conventional power sources like thermal coal or lignite-based energy. Still, Singh claimed that thermal power will remain important until round-the-clock renewable energy can keep up with the growing demand for electricity.
Singh brought up the issue of the soaring electricity demand, which increased by an astounding 20 per cent over the months of August, September, and October. He disclosed that during the first week of November, electricity consumption had risen to 221 GW.
He underlined how crucial it is to run power plants to their maximum potential in order to achieve the goal of having a steady supply of electricity available all the time.
The minister pointed out that although urban areas benefit from 23.5 hours of electricity each day, rural areas currently receive an average of 22.5 hours. He pushed for the importation of coal for a six per cent blending to address the roughly 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of coal shortage in thermal power plants per day, and he encouraged governments to optimise the use of power plants.
During the ministerial meeting, various topics were discussed, including green energy corridors, green hydrogen, and new renewable purchase obligations related to distributed renewable energy. Singh reported that the issue of overdue payments by power generation companies (Gencos) has nearly been resolved.
