Overbuilding coal capacity is not the solution

This report by Ember argues that India should avoid overbuilding coal capacity and instead focus on improving the flexibility of existing coal plants and expanding energy storage to integrate renewable energy.

• India should improve the flexibility of its existing coal fleet by mandating that plants operate at a minimum technical load (MTL) of 40%, down from the current 55% benchmark, and implementing compensation mechanisms for generators and purchasers.
• To better integrate renewables, the report recommends that DISCOMs move away from 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) in favor of short- or medium-term contracts of approximately 3-5 years, and link fixed-charge payments to performance during peak demand periods.
• State-level thermal generators should be integrated into the central optimisation pool to increase the thermal capacity available for balancing the midday solar surge and to optimize economic dispatch (SCED).
• Current storage volume assumptions in the NEP are considered insufficient for planned solar capacity and reliability. Ember estimates that system-wide renewable curtailment ranges from 2.5% to 3.8% under modelled operations, with 1.3 to 2.0 percentage points caused by reserves alone.
• Policy reforms are needed to compensate storage for its superior frequency response capabilities, specifically through Secondary Reserve Ancillary Service (SRAS) and the reduction of emergency Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Service (TRAS).

APA

Ember (2025). Overbuilding coal capacity is not the solution. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/recommendations-2/

Chicago

Ember. Overbuilding coal capacity is not the solution. 2025. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/recommendations-2/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Overbuilding coal capacity is not the solution |date=29 October 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/recommendations-2/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2025overbuilding, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Overbuilding coal capacity is not the solution}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/recommendations-2/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }