India looks at increasing gas usage during peak hours in order to guarantee power supply

India's top power official revealed on Friday that the country is looking at whether its under-used, gas-fired plants can be used during evening peak hours to provide flexibility in generation as renewable energy grows rapidly.

Gas-fired power generation is usually only maximized during the summer peak months, because it's relatively expensive.

It is still aiming to maintain its approximately 20?gigawatts gas-based capacity in order to balance the grid. The plants are cleaner than coal, and they offset the intermittent nature?of?wind and?solar power.

"For the past three years, we have studied whether gas plants could run for eight hours in the evening while remaining shut the rest of the day," said Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal to a group of power plant operators.

He did not specify a deadline for the completion of the study but asked that state utilities and plant owners explore the possibility of using gas-based generators to stabilize the grid. Agarwal stated that the share of renewable energy has exceeded 50% of total installed capacity. India may face similar challenges to Europe in terms of maintaining power during periods of low wind or solar output.

After years of high gas prices, the government lowered the grid-connected 'gas capacity from 25 GW to 20 GW last year.

India is currently the world's fourth largest buyer of liquefied gas. It aims to increase the gas share in its energy mix to 15% from the current 6.2%.

Last month, Asian spot LNG prices rose to $11.35 per a million British thermal units. This was a new high for nine weeks as the colder winter temperatures in the northern hemisphere boosted heating demand. Sethuraman, NR (reporting) and Barbara Lewis (editing)

(source: Reuters)