Coal Declines in India

Coal mining is experiencing a continued decline after years of a steady increase in alternative fuel sources like natural gas, oil and renewables. Except for China, where new coal production is increasing alongside renewable sources, coal appears to be rapidly disappearing across most countries in the world. New data shows how India is now seeing a significant decline in coal alongside a slow increase in solar and wind energy.

New data collected by Bloomberg from Ember and the Consumer Energy Alliance shows India had their first decline in coal-generated electricity over the last two years – declining by 26 terawatt-hours in 2019 and an even greater 51 terawatt-hours in 2020. Coal energy output has been staggering up and down in the country over the last decade, and now appears to finally be taking a more permanent decline as renewable energy becomes cheaper and more efficient in all areas of the world.

Solar and wind energy growth in India had been relatively stagnant over the past decade. The two renewable sources have started to see an uptick starting in 2015, coinciding with a downward trend for coal in the country. To meet renewable energy goals, India still needs to more than double their current solar and wind output in the country to meet a goal of 274 terawatt-hours generated by 2022. The quick reduction of coal appears to be an initial step in ramping up efforts to meet these goals.