Tata Power not to build new coal power plants

New Delhi: India's largest private integrated power company -- Tata Power -- recently made it publicly clear that it will cease building new coal-fired power capacity, a report by US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said on Tuesday.

The report, "Tata Power: Renewables to Power Growth", highlights the company's long-term strategy that will see renewable energy dominate its power capacity build-out going forward. Tata Power is now leading the country's renewable energy transition following its withdrawal from building new coal-fired power plants.

Report author Simon Nicholas, Energy Finance Analyst at IEEFA, says Tata Power's focus on renewables makes sense given the major energy transformation now occurring. "The company's plan, 'Strategic Intent 2025' calls for up to 70 per cent of new capacity additions to come from solar, wind and hydro through to 2025," said Nicholas. "This represents a significant departure from the accepted wisdom of just a few years ago that a major expansion of coal-fired power would be required to serve India's growing electricity demand," he added.

The majority of Tata Power's thermal capacity is now centred on its Mundra coal-fired power plant -- one of the biggest power plants in India -- which experienced losses reaching $191m for the first three-quarters of FY2018-19."The Mundra plant is making consistent, significant losses that are dragging back the company's overall financial performance," Nicholas said in a statement.