The temperature continues to soar higher but the relative demand for electricity remains soft in April. According to a report by Nuvama, India’s total electricity consumption in April stood at 148 billion units (BU), up 2.2 per cent YoY from 144 BU in April last year. However, within the power space, the renewable energy generation has registered 21 per cent growth. What’s even more encouraging for renewables is the steadily growing pipeline for FY26. This gives the industry hopes of a stronger outlook going forward.
Along with the Renewable Energy output, the thermal power generation capacity remained steady in April. In April, the thermal power output was 72.5 percent of the capacity of the power plants. In FY25, the average thermal power generation was 69.8 percent.
Large base effect
One of the reasons why the power demand was soft was the large base in April 24 (period of general elections with virtually no power cuts). Power demand stood at 148 BU in April this year (+2.2% YoY)/ from 144BU in April 2024.
Power supply -demand dynamics during solar hours
However, as the summer progresses, the demand for electricity is also expected to increase. The monsoon is likely to impact the production capacity of Renewable sources. In the past year, this effect has also been seen in the power prices on IEX. As per the Nuvama report, the electricity prices rose to as much as Rs 7.6 – 10 per unit in the peak non-solar hours.
Push from the increased electricity production from the renewable energy sectors, coupled with the muted demand for power, the electricity prices on the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) have seen a small decrease. As per Nuvama’s report, supply during solar hours increased while prices decreased further with sell bids at 136% of purchase bids. IEX average prices dropped to Rs 3.20/unit in April Vs Rs 3.60/unit in April last year and Rs 3.8/unit in March 2025.. However, prices hit the Rs 10/kWh cap on most days (26/30) of April in non-solar hours.
Power sector to watch out for high tendering
What’s adding to the positive sentiment in the space is the “huge tendering pipeline of 304GW, and solar energy leads the way with 156 GW pipeline followed by hybrid at 61GW, wind at 32GW, and thermal at 21GW.
The all-India installed capacity as on March 25 was at 475GW, aided by a modest FY25 Renewable Energy addition of 29GW.
Keeping in view the upcoming demand for electricity in peak summer, the coal inventories at the power plants have also been increased. All India coal stock in April stood at 19.6 days. Earlier in the same month last year, the all-India coal stock was 17 days.