India saw biggest September power shortage in over 3 years
India just saw its biggest power shortage in over three years this September.
More factories and businesses needed electricity, but weak rainfall meant less hydropower, so coal plants had to pick up the slack, making up about two-thirds of all electricity.
Even though renewable power generation increased more energy than before, its overall share actually dropped a bit compared with last month.
El Nino cut hydropower in India
Blame it partly on El Nino, which brought less rain and left hydropower struggling.
Coal plants ran harder than ever (up 13.3% from last year) even as about two out of five ran low on fuel.
Battery storage for renewables wasn't enough to help during peak times either.
Rupesh Sankhe, a research analyst at Elara Securities, summed it up: higher industrial demand plus plant maintenance made things extra tight for the grid.