India’s power consumption shrinks by 7.7 per cent to 100.13 BU in March

The country’s power consumption has declined by 7.7 per cent to 100.13 BUs in March 2020 as compared to 109 BUs in March 2019, mainly on account of lower commercial and industrial demand due to the lockdown. The daily power demand has dipped to an average 112 GW, the lowest in six years, from 160 GW a year ago. As a result, thermal power plants are operating at a suboptimal capacity utilisation factor of about 40 per cent. About 65 GW of capacity is estimated to have been backed down. The spot power price also touched a three-year low of 60 paise per unit on March 25, 2020 on the Indian Energy Exchange. The average spot power price is usually around Rs 2 per unit at the exchanges