Power sector in the
country is witnessing a shift in demand pattern. Peak demand during the day
occurs during afternoon rather than evening. With rapid expansion of renewable
energy, particularly solar power, the country is successfully meeting the
afternoon demand but the challenge is catering to evening and night demand when
solar output falls sharply. Also, during the day, there is significant
curtailment of solar power because of inadequate battery and pumped storage
capacity and because coal-based plants cannot reduce generation below their
technical minimum level.
Attributing the inability to meet night demand
to “old” or “vintage” thermal fleet oversimplifies the issue. Moreover, the
coal fleet in the country cannot be called vintage because only about 20% of
coal-based capacity is more than 25 years old, a criterion which itself is
flawed and is based on contractual term of power purchase agreements (PPAs). In
reality, coal-based plants can easily run for 40 years with proper maintenance
and upgradation. There are more pressing issues like forced outages,
maintenance deficiencies and operational limitations as the plants were
designed to serve base load rather than frequent ramp-ups and downs.
Sustainable and long-term solution is to augment
renewable energy with economically viable storage capacity so that curtailment
of renewable power during the day can be reduced and stored power can be
quickly brought into action when renewable output falls suddenly. Adding solar
capacity without enhancing energy storage and grid flexibility will worsen the
situation.
Finding the root cause of the problem is
important because if the issue is ageing assets, solution would be retirement
and replacement, but in this case, solution lies in better market design which
encourages flexibility and reliability, augmenting ancillary services and
storage, proper renovation & modernization of plants and upgraded technical
protocols. Role of coal is also changing with time. It is no longer merely a
baseload serving power source but increasingly becoming a balancing and
flexibility resource acting as a reserve and providing grid stability. Thus,
the planning, governance and regulation need to shift from a capacity centric
regime to a flexibility and reliability centric regime.
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/are-our-coal-based-power-units-vintage/4282136/
