Power generation from conventional sources sees its steepest monthly fall in January

Power generation from conventional sources in January 2019 clocked its sharpest fall since February 2014. It fell by one per cent to 100.84 billion kwh in January 2019 from 101.86 billion units generated in January 2018. It is the second contraction in the past 44 months-the month of April 2015 saw a decline of 0.5 per cent. Electricity through conventional sources has been growing at a diminishing pace over the past two months-4.5 per cent in November and 3.9 per cent in December. It, however, registered a double digit growth of 10.3 per cent in the preceding month, after a gap of 29 months. On a cumulative basis, during April 2018-January 2019, 1,050.8 billion units were generated through this source compared to 1,008.5 units in the first ten months of fiscal year 2017/18, translating into a growth of 4.2 per cent during the period.

Conventional sources of power generation include thermal, nuclear and hydro power generation. Thermal power generation slipped by 85 basis points to 90.3 billion units, year-on-year. Nuclear power generation fell by a sharp 23 per cent to 3.1 billion units during the month. Hydro power generation, on the other hand, rose to 7.4 billion units in January 2019 from 6.6 billion units in the same month a year ago. This translated into a growth of 11.4 per cent.

Total power generation rose marginally to 110.1 billion units in January 2019 from 109.25 billion units generated in January 2018. This again in turn converted into a slowest growth of 0.3 per cent over the last five years. During the period between April 2018 and January 2019, the cumulative power generation stood at 1,158.0 billion units compared to 1,094.7 billion units in the corresponding period previous year. While conventional electricity generation fell by one per cent to 100.84 billion kwh, renewable generation jumped by 17.5 per cent to 9.3 billion units.

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