Power Vs Pandemic - A Story so far
In 2020, in a world affected by COVID-19, India’s power sector was no exception. The pandemic worsened the compromised situation of the sector, throwing some of the most unprecedented challenges. From commercial activities like billing, metering and collection due to physical distancing measures to power supply management due to sudden dropping of demand to the disruptions in global supply chain owing to restriction on Chinese imports, all were harshly impacted. However, the power sector, being part of the essential service, had maintained a steady and reliable power supply to the stressed hospitals and rising residential demand (despite a liquidity crunch).
Impact of Covid-19 on Power Sector Value Chain - A Snapshot
Source: POSOCO. (2020-21). Daily Reports. New Delhi: POSOCO. https://bit.ly/2Mgeei1

*The change in emissions is only with respect to the emissions from the power sector i.e the coal based power plants.
Source: MoP. (2020, December). Praapti. Retrieved from Praapti Portal: https://bit.ly/3aS6VYd & CEA. (2020). Multiple reports. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3hNEsnF
Electricity Demand | Distribution | Generation and resource availability | |
---|---|---|---|
Electricity Demand | Demand drop by 20-25%.
| Low Billing and Collectionii
| Plummeting demand led to generation shutdowns and power surplus
|
Distribution | Changing load composition with a rising domestic demand
| Significant Revenue loss iv Due to lockdown, it is estimated that Indian DISCOMs will incur 🡪
| RE continued to rise and shine
|
Generation and resource availability | Demand recovery started in early September
| Need for revival
| Other Externalities
|
The pandemic was an eye-opener in many ways. From India’s power sector perspective, the change in demand patterns across consumer categories and the resultant slump in its thermal electricity generation has impacted the financial and operational working of all the power utilities. However, after a dismal 2020, the electricity sector is slowly staging signs of recovery. India’s current installed capacity stands at 377 GW (Jan’21), While, coal continues to have a low plant load factor, the national peak demand has continued to rise since September 2020 and reached its highest level in January 2021 at 190 GW, seeing a 11% year-on-year growth. Considering the highest peak demand was reached in January against a typical June-July month; the power sector is set for an electricity demand boost in 2021.
i Aruga, M. M. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 on Indian Energy Consumption. MDPI. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from https://bit.ly/38POBML
iiSwain, A. K. (2020). Powering Through The Pandemic. New Delhi: Centre for Policy Research. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from https://bit.ly/2KDaqal
iiiNITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). (2020). Towards a Clean Energy Economy.New Delhi: NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). Retrieved December 30, 2020, from https://bit.ly/2WXZVAJ
ivRajvikram Madurai Elavarasan, G. S. (2020). COVID-19: Impact analysis and recommendations for power sector operation. NCBI. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from https://bit.ly/3rCrWMl
Haiwang Zhong, Z. T. (2020). Implications of COVID-19 for the Electricity Industry: A comprehensive Study. CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from https://bit.ly/3pwEO4X
