As power demand trips on thermal circuit, recovery could be slow and damp

For the third consecutive month, thermal power generation recorded a 19% year-on-year decline in October. Although demand typically cools during the slack monsoon season, long-term generation trends are not encouraging either.

Power generation fell 2% during April-October 2019, the first such fall in at least a decade, shows data from the Central Electricity Authority.

Part of the fall can be attributed to adequate rainfall, which apart from reducing temperatures has lowered demand from the agriculture sector and boosted hydropower generation. The 16% rise in hydropower generation in April-October this year was the best in five years.