India’s fossil fuel power output sees sharp decline in March amid push for renewables | India News
New Delhi: India, along with the US, Turkey, South Africa, Germany and the Netherlands, saw a decline in power generation from fossil fuels in March after military conflicts in West Asia and disruptions in energy supplies led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Center for Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said on Wednesday in its latest report.The decline in power generation has been offset by large increases in solar and wind power output, it added. The dataset covers 87% of global coal power generation and over 60% of gas-fired generation in countries that publish near-real-time data.
According to the report, total global electricity generation from fossil fuels fell by 1% year-on-year, with an exception in China, where it increased by 2%. “Among countries with real-time electricity data, coal-fired power generation fell 3.5%, and gas-fired power generation fell 4.0% in March,” it said.“This was due to increases in solar (14%) and wind (8%) generation. Hydropower generation also saw a small increase (2%), but this was more than offset by a decline in nuclear power generation,” it added.The think tank noted that the data contradicted widespread expectations that coal power generation would increase amid pressure on energy supplies from the conflict. It also observed that seaborne coal shipments fell 3% in March to the lowest level since 2021.“Record growth in global clean power generation, particularly solar and wind, has helped ease the impact of the latest fossil fuel crisis. Growth in clean power offset the decline in gas-fired power generation after the blockade of Hormuz, preventing a jump in coal-fired power generation,” said Lori Milevirta, principal analyst at CREA. “It is imperative to use this moment to accelerate the global energy transition, to mitigate the effects of the current crisis and make such recurring global emergencies a thing of the past.“The report says that in the US and India, the single biggest driver of the decline in fossil fuel-based power generation was the rise of solar power. India added 55.3 GW of renewable energy capacity in FY2025-26 and moved up its global ranking to third place after China and the US.
