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Low Coal Stocks and Weak Hydro Put Wind in Focus

Low Coal Stocks and Weak Hydro Put Wind in Focus
Low coal stocks, weak hydro: Wind emerges as India’s scalable power bet · financialexpress.com

India needs more electricity, but it has recently had trouble getting enough from some sources.

Hydropower has fallen because reservoirs have had less water, and solar power is harder to use at night without enough batteries.

Coal plants have produced more power, but many are running with low coal stocks or are offline for maintenance.

Wind power is being presented as another way to help meet demand.

India added 6.05 gigawatts of wind capacity in FY26, a record.

Officials expect yearly additions to rise further in the coming years.

A government transmission and storage scheme is also meant to help move and store renewable electricity.

Wind is not described as solving the shortages on its own, but the article identifies it as a growing part of the response.

Key facts

September power deficit
560 million kWh
Wind capacity installed by September 30
59.20 GW
Record wind addition
6.05 GW in FY26
Wind capacity target
100 GW by 2030
Projected annual wind installations
8 GW in FY27, rising to 13.2 GW by FY30-31
Wind capacity under construction
43 GW, according to official estimates
Green Energy Corridor Phase-III outlay
Rs 1,86,405 crore
Battery storage earmarked under GEC-III
Rs 50,000 crore for 50 GWh of battery energy storage systems

Quotes

Pralhad Joshi

Union minister quoted on wind capacity and India’s national target

“The impact of El Niño on Hydro reservoir levels is expected to reasonably reduce hydropower generation in India as compared to the previous year. Between April 1 and July 30, hydropower generation has been 10.75% less than that for the corresponding period in 2025.”
financialexpress.com
“India added a record 6+ GW of wind capacity last year and is working towards the ambitious target of 100 GW by 2030”
financialexpress.com

Sources

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