Utilities in India turn to LNG as coal plants shut down

Unviable operations, delayed payments and fuel shortages have lead to shutting down of coal-fired plants, and several state utilities in India turned to a more expensive power generated from LNG to meet the demand.

Inadequate domestic gas production forced several utilities to raise their gas-fired power generation significantly as well as buy expensive LNG.

The Economic Times of India report that Gujarat started running 1500 MW of LNG-powered plants as coal-fired plants were shut, which raised the price to the end users. Other regions have also restarted the gas-based plants that have been shut due to the high cost of power generation.

LNG World News Staff, September 1, 2014; Image: ONGC