LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - India's power consumption is becoming increasingly "peaky" as a result of rapidly growing air-conditioning loads and the deployment of increasing amounts of solar power.
In response, the government has announced increased use of time-of-day tariffs to encourage consumption during solar hours and penalise usage after sunset.
On June 23, the Ministry of Power outlined plans for a three-rate tariff, with prices varying between normal hours, solar hours and peak hours ("India to cut daytime power tariffs, raise fees for night use", Reuters, June 23).
Prices during solar hours will be reduced by 10-20% compared with normal while peak hours will be 10-20% more expensive - a total swing from least-expensive to most-expensive of 20-40%.
Chartbook: India electricity systemIn May 2023, India's total electricity consumption was marginally lower than in the same month a year earlier as a result of cooler temperatures.
Persons:
John Kemp, David Evans
Organizations:
Ministry of Power, Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
India