Skip to main content

The monsoon and coal demand in India

Published by , Editor
World Coal,


A strong El Nino could negatively impact monsoon rains in India, hitting hydropower capacity and increasing reliance on coal this summer, according to analysis from Marex Spectron.

India is one of the largest hydropower producers in the world, relying on it for 17% of its electricity generation. The monsoon season (June - September/October) is the peak time for hydropower generation as the country receives 70% of its rainfall during these months.

“During the monsoon season, therefore, hydropower can replace a significant share of coal power production,” explained Marex Spectron. “Coal imports are therefore crucially lined to the amount of hydropower produced, which is again strongly linked to the strength of the monsoon rains.”

Last year, a strong El Nino resulted in lower-than-usual rainfall in India – which led to an increased need for coal-fired power over the summer and consequent record lows at coal stockpiles around the country.

A similar scenario could play out this year with an even stronger El Nino expected, concluded Marex Spectron (although it is worth noting that not all El Nino years are linked with a drop in monsoon rains).

This could be good news for the global thermal coal market as India’s government seems determined to avoid the coal shortages and blackouts of previous years.

“Coal imports to India has increased considerably since early this year and have meanwhile reached record high levels,” the research note concluded – a trend that should continue, if rainfall is again disappointing this summer.

Written by .

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/06052015/the-impact-of-monsoon-rainfall-on-coal-demand-in-india-coal2239/

You might also like

EMI

Electrification in Mining virtual conference

Join us on 16 April 2024 for Global Mining Review's first Electrification in Mining event is an interactive virtual conference, focusing on electrification as the future of sustainable mining and exploring the innovative approaches and technologies being developed to facilitate its implementation.

Register for FREE »

 
 
 

Embed article link: (copy the HTML code below):