Power generation grew 6 per cent in January 2016

Power generation in India grew by 6 per cent in January 2016 as per the tentative estimates released by the Central Electricity Authority. The country generated 91.7 billion units during the month compared to 86.5 billion units generated in January 2015.
 
A healthy performance by thermal power stations helped the country in reporting more than 5 per cent growth in total power generation. Thermal power generation grew by 8.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y), generating 82.4 billion units in January 2016.

Thermal power stations, however, could not meet the monthly generation target of 86.1 billion units. The plant load factor (PLF) of thermal power stations slipped to 63.2 per cent from 64.8 per cent a year ago.

Hydel power generation fell by 12.6 per cent to 6.2 billion units in January 2016. This was the fifth consecutive month of a y-o-y decline in generation. Hydel power stations managed to achieve 84 per cent of the monthly generation target of around 7.4 billion units.

Nuclear power generation decreased by 5.4 per cent y-o-y in during the month. As against the monthly generation target of 3.6 billion units, atomic power stations generated around 3 billion units. The PLF of nuclear power stations also fell to 70.7 per cent from 74.7 per cent in January 2015.