India's record renewable generation in July cuts coal's share in power mix to 1-year low
India's renewable energy generation reached a record high in July, contributing to a decrease in the share of coal-fired power. Despite this, coal generation rose year-on-year due to increased electricity demand and lower hydropower output caused by El Nino weather patterns.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between India's ambitious clean energy transition and the immediate necessity of coal to meet surging power demands during climate-driven weather extremes.
The share of coal in India’s power-generation mix dropped to its lowest in a year in July as renewable-power generation surged to a record high, government data showed.
Renewable power jumped to 20% of India’s mix, the data showed. It was 36.25 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in July, up 30% from the same month last year.
Coal-power generation fell to 65.7% in July from 69% in June, according to Reuters calculations of daily data from the regulator, Grid-India.
The rise in India’s clean-energy generation comes as solar and wind output exceeded 100 gigawatts for the first time and accounted for a record 42.8% of India’s electricity supply on July 13, government data showed.
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