Coal-powered electricity output was 115 terawatt hours (TWh) in January 2024, a new high and up 10% from the same month in 2023, data from energy think tank Ember shows.
India's coal-fired electricity generation & power sector emissions hit records in January 2024
Emissions from coal generation in January hit 104.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), while emissions from all power sources hit 107.5 million tons, which marked a record in both categories and a 10% rise from January 2023.
CLEAN CUTS
The increase in coal generation came as output from solar, wind and hydro facilities dropped by 3%, 19% and 21.4% respectively from the same month a year ago.
Cumulative clean-powered electricity generation was 26.6 TWh in January, which was 11.2% down from January 2023 and resulted in clean power's share of India's total electricity generation mix dropping to a 5-year low of 18.4% last month.
India seasonal coal-fired vs clean energy electricity generation
Going forward, utilities should be able to deploy growing volumes of clean power onto India's electricity grids, as the country's clean power generation total tends to peak around August when solar, wind and hydro output have historically scaled their highs for the year.
