India’s swelling coal stockpiles test state-owned mining giant CIL

India’s state-owned mining giant Coal India Ltd. is sitting on record-high inventories. The miner has an unsold inventory of more than 100 million tonnes since the start of the fiscal year, reported Bloomberg. Meanwhile, coal stockpiles at power stations, the company’s biggest customers, are up almost a third from a year earlier at more than 58 million tonnes, the highest level in records going back 17 years, the outlet noted.

The report pointed out that an early onset of monsoon rains and frequent showers in parts of the country have kept India’s electricity demand in check and coal stockpiles high. Combined with increased competition from cleaner sources of electricity, as well as other miners, Coal India is unlikely to return to the massive profit margins it enjoyed just a few years ago. 

The outlet said India’s coal-fired generation fell 6% from a year earlier in the first two months of this fiscal year. Meanwhile, peak electricity consumption this year is over 10% short of a projection in February, and more than 5% below last year’s maximum. Unless heat waves this month push power use drastically higher, it would be the first annual decline in at least two decades, the report said.

India’s $80 billion coal-power boom is running short of water

India plans to spend nearly $80 billion on water-hungry coal plants by 2031 to power growing industries like data center operations; the vast majority of these new projects are planned for India’s driest areas, Reuters reported citing a power ministry document. 

The article said the thermal expansion likely portended future conflict between industry and residents over limited water resources. Thirty-seven of the 44 new projects named in the undated power ministry shortlist of future operations are located in areas that the government classifies as either suffering from water scarcity or stress. NTPC, which says it draws 98.5% of its water from water-stressed areas, is involved in nine of them.

The article noted that since 2014, India has lost 60.33 billion units of coal-power generation across the country — equivalent to 19 days of coal-power supply at June 2025 levels — because water shortages force plants to suspend generation, according to federal data. Among the facilities that have struggled with shortages is the 2,920 MW Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Station, one of India’s largest.

India’s natural gas consumption to more than double by 2040: PNGRB study

India’s natural gas consumption may rise by 60% by 2030 and more than double by 2040, as its use as CNG in automobiles and for cooking and industrial purposes increases, according to a study by oil regulator PNGRB, reported ET.

The newspaper added that the consumption of natural gas, which is used to produce electricity, make fertiliser or turned into CNG for running automobiles and piped to household kitchens for cooking, is expected to rise from 187 million standard cubic metres per day in 2023-24 to 297 mmscmd by 2030 under ‘Good-to-Go’ scenario, the study by Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) said.

UK’s fossil fuel import deal: Centrica strikes £20 billion deal to import gas from Norway until 2035

Financial Times reported that the owner of British Gas has struck a £20 billion deal to buy gas from Norway over the coming decade, a “sign that the UK will remain reliant on fossil-fuel imports as it winds down North Sea exploration”. Centrica will buy 5 billion cubic metres of gas from Norway’s state-owned Equinor each year from this October until 2035, this is “equivalent to about 9% of the UK’s gas demands last year and enough to supply 5 million homes”, the newspaper reported adding that the deal is about half the amount it has bought annually over the past three years, but around the same as an earlier deal in 2015.

Germany is once again generating more electricity from coal and gas

Due to the “low” wind levels in the first quarter of 2025, electricity generation from renewables in Germany decreased by 17% for the first time in two years, while generation from fossil-fuel sources increased significantly, reported Carbon Brief, citing the outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). However, the outlet added that, despite the overall decline in renewables, wind power remained the largest source of electricity generation, with a share of almost 28% – just ahead of coal at 27%. The report said, gas accounted for nearly 21% – “significantly more than the previous year” – while electricity generation from solar power rose “by a good third”, reaching a 9.2% share of the total electricity mix, the outlet explains.

China’s approvals of coal power plants grow after 2024 decline

China approved 11 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power plants in the first quarter of 2025, exceeding the 10 GW approved in the first half of last year, Reuters reported citing Greenpeace research. Gao Yuhe of Greenpeace, warned that “approving a new wave of large-scale coal projects risks creating overcapacity, stranded assets and higher transition costs”.

Last year, Chinese approvals of new coal-fired power capacity fell 41.5% year-on-year to 62.24 GW, the first annual decline since 2021. The new data suggested approvals are tracking higher this year. While all the approved projects may not be built, the growing pipeline signals a continued reliance on coal. 

China said it will start to phase down coal during the 2026-2030 five-year plan, but Beijing has not committed to any specific targets. This year marks the last in China’s 2021-2025 five-year plan, in which China has approved 289 GW in new coal capacity, around double the 145 GW approved for the 2016-2020 period.

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