Sustainable Energy (FACTS)

India, a country of 1.2 billion (and increasing) needs energy to fuel its economic growth and development and to meet aspirations of its people for a better quality of life. In 2014, 45% of India still lacks excess to electricity, the highest form of energy and between 18,000 – 25,000 villages are not connected to the grid. Even the grid connected regions including the National Capital Region (NCR), face frequent power shortages and grid shut-downs resulting in residential and commercial buildings having costly diesel or battery back-up. Other non-metro towns can face 8-12 hours of grid shut-downs in peak seasons. Rural areas face more severe shortages.

As of 31 August 2014, the total installed electricity generation capacity in the country is 254.12 GW including nearly 32.42 GW of Renewable Energy Sources (RES). In addition to this capacity, nearly 39.37 GW is assessed to have been set up as captive power plants in the industrial sector. The all India mix in generation by source including renewable energy is shown in Figure 1.0 below. While the mix in installed capacity is shown in Figure 2.0.

Trends in electricity consumption shown in Figure 3.0 show exponential growth in consumption. The current electricity consumption is around 1000 bn kWh and if the same trend is to be assumed till 2032, we will have annual consumption of the order of 3500 bn kWh. Figure 4.0 shows average plant load factor (PLF) in percentage by source of generation. While according to CEA, the average PLF for themal plants is of the order of 60-70%, if worked out on the basis of total generation from a source and the total installed capacity at the national level, the PLF of thermal projects turns out to be 51%

The per capita electricity consumption in India at 917 kWh is much below the world average of 2700 kWh (Source: World Bank). States like Bihar & Manipur had much lower figures of 133.6 kWh & 235.9 kWh in 2011-12. In comparison, China has per capita electricity consumption of 3500 kWh.

Some of the key facts on Indian energy sector

  • Total electricity generation capacity = 254.12 GW (as of 31 August 2014)
  • Total RE based electricity generation capacity = 32.42 GW (included in above)
  • Total captive electricity generation capacity = 39.37 GW (additional)
  • Per-capita Electricity Consumption = 917 kWh/year (Source: CEA)
  • Villages not connected to grid = 18000 (Source: CEA/MNRE/MoP)
  • Percent population without access to electricity = 45% (Source: CEA/MNRE/MoP)


    • Figure 1.0
    		 Figure 2.0
    Figure 3.0
    		 Figure 4.0