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Power demand moderated in Mar’23 on account of unseasonal rainfall in parts of India. Overall demand remained strong in FY23, supported by many factors such as electrification of households, extreme temperatures, increasing per capita income, and the pace of urbanisation (What is driving power demand?). Power demand (9.5%) is growing faster than generation (c. 8.6%), leading to an increase in peak deficit (4% in FY23 vs. 1.2% in FY22). Overall project execution is expected to pick up pace due to various policy initiatives in RE and strong push in thermal and hydro. Production of coal continues to register YoY doubledigit growth (14.7% in FY23 vs. 8.7% in FY22). Polysilicon prices remain volatile whereas coal prices are still on a downward trajectory. Here, we present a collection of 44 charts/exhibits representing important data points that help us track energy transition in India.

* Power demand: The demand for energy/peak power continues to rise; it grew at 9.5%/6.3% YoY during FY23 led by multiple factors mentioned above. All-India peak demand reached 211GW on 18 th Jan’23, about 9.7% higher than the previous year's peak demand during the same period [recorded at 192GW on 31st Jan’22].

* Power generation: Total power generation increased by 8.7% YoY to 1,621BU during FY23 as compared to 1,491BU in FY22. The share of RE in total generation continues to grow, touching 12.4% in FY23 - 93bps higher than FY22 (11.5%).

* Tariff: Average tariff in the day-ahead spot power market decreased to INR 5.5 per kWh in Mar’23 from INR 6.7 per kWh in Feb’23 due to subdued power demand.

* PLF: With rising demand, utilisation (PLF) of coal-fired power plants continues to improve; it stood at 64.2% in FY23 against 58.7% during FY22. However, in spite of invoking Sec11 from 16th Mar’23, Tata Power’s Mundra plant is not operational

* Generation capacity: Installed capacity in the country stands at 416GW with non-fossil contributing 179GW. During FY23, 128MW of Hydro, 12,784MW of Solar, and 2,276 MW of Wind capacities have been added. 56/9/4GW of Solar, Wind and SW Hybrid respectively and 8.7/17.8/28.2GW of Nuclear/Hydro/Thermal projects respectively are under construction. A total of 24GW of coal-fired projects are under stress, of which 95% belong to developers from the private sector.

* Coal: Production of coal continues to rise, registering 15% YoY growth to 892MT during FY23. Coal India surpassed its target of 700MT in FY23 and is now targeting to produce 780MT in FY24. India has imported 51MT of coal during Apr-Feb’23, a 110% YoY increase due to a combination of factors such as the government's mandate to coal-fired power plants to increase inventories by importing at least 6% of their coal demand, and availability of cheaper coal from Russia. International coal prices continue to moderate. Indonesian coal prices moderated from peak levels of Mar’22 (USD 216/tn) to USD 121/tn in Mar’23. Tata Power MD Mr Praveer Sinha recently said in an interview with The Economic Times that the company expects international coal prices to drop further.

* Solar input material cost: The prices of solar components, viz., polysilicon, wafers and, cells have started rising again after trending down for several weeks. The price of silver, which accounts for 6.6% of the module cost, climbed to USD 23.9/ounce during the Mar’23. However, module prices continued to decline and reached USD 0.19/Watt in Mar’23, the lowest since 2022 given plenty of supply and high inventory in Europe (China exported 84GW of cells and modules to Europe against total exports of 181GW). Going forward, prices are expected to return to the 'old normal' due to a combination of factors such as increase in container prices and revival of demand from Indian and Chinese developers. However, unprecedented volatility in polysilicon prices may change the trajectory either way

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