By Sadananda Mohapatra, Senior Business Journalist
Lead Story: September Was Meant to Be Easy. India Ran Coal and Gas Instead
September is meant to be India’s easiest grid month. Hydro should run full. Solar stays strong. Cooling demand eases. In September 2026 peak demand hit 269 GW, the highest ever recorded for the month and close to the summer peaks that set records between May and June. The monsoon delivered rain. It did not deliver the grid relief India expected.
Hydro generation from April to early September fell 10.85 percent year on year to 81,709 MU from 91,652 MU last year. Weak monsoon rains left reservoirs low across key basins and cut the one source of flexible clean power India relies on to balance the evening ramp when solar fades.
Coal filled the gap at high intensity. Between 1 and 9 September coal generation reached 32,749 MU, up 25.3 percent from 26,136 MU a year earlier. Plants ran near maximum with little headroom left. Cumulative coal output from April to early September stood at 612,663 MU, up 10.64 percent. Stress showed quickly: plants with critical coal stocks rose from 59 on 9 September to 66 by 14 September. Plant level stocks fell to about 24 million tonnes, only 41 percent of the required level.
Gas stepped in at high cost. Gas based generation between 1 and 9 September hit 1,089 MU, up 80 percent from 604 MU last year. The government is deploying 4.5 to 5.5 GW of gas capacity specifically for evening shortfalls. Spot gas purchases by the power sector jumped to 30.53 lakh MMBtu in the first ten days of September from just 3.75 lakh MMBtu a year earlier, an eightfold rise in emergency procurement.
Evening and night shortfalls of 6 to 7.7 GW on peak days confirmed the pattern. The solar drop after 6 pm is real and growing steeper as solar capacity expands. Neither hydro nor storage is yet large enough to bridge it. Total energy consumption between 1 and 9 September reached 49.84 billion units, up 20.7 percent year on year.
India’s renewable capacity is substantial: 162 GW of solar and 57 GW of wind. The storage and transmission needed to deploy that capacity when demand peaks in the evening is not. Capacity without dispatchability is not the same as supply security.
September 2026 made both sides of the story visible at once. The renewable build out is real. So is the fossil floor that still carries the evening load.
Joules Capsule: Weekly Round-Up
Google Announces Five Clean Energy Initiatives in India
Google on 10 September unveiled five new sustainability and clean energy projects in India. The package includes a long term agreement with ReNew for a 150 MW solar project in Rajasthan, AI driven rooftop solar mapping covering more than 300 million buildings, a methane and water reduction programme with Mitti Labs for rice farmers in Telangana, and expanded research through the Google Center for Climate Technology. The moves expand Google’s direct engagement with India’s renewable and climate technology ecosystem.
Coal Gasification Scheme Receives First Seven Applications
The ₹37,500 crore surface coal and lignite gasification incentive scheme closed its first application window on 7 September with seven proposals from five companies. Adani Enterprises submitted three applications for urea projects. NTPC applied for a synthetic natural gas project. Talcher Fertilisers also sought support for urea production, while Gallantt Ispat and Shyam Sel proposed syngas and related projects. The second application window opened immediately on a rolling two month cycle. The government targets 100 million tonnes of annual coal gasification capacity by 2030.
Indian Crude Basket Stays Elevated Above USD 100
The Indian crude basket remained under pressure through mid September, with the monthly average so far near USD 104 and earlier daily readings crossing USD 100. Renewed tensions in West Asia continued to support higher global benchmarks. Freight rates on key Gulf to India routes have stayed sharply elevated since February. Refiners reported that September and October supplies are largely secured through alternative sources, but the elevated price level keeps pressure on the import bill and under recoveries.
About the Author:
Sadananda Mohapatra is a veteran business journalist with decades of experience covering India’s emergy, industry, and economic landscape. With stints at reputed financial news publications like The Business Standard & NewsWire18, he reported extensively on India’s power sector, minerals policy, coal and energy regulation, and industrial developments — building a deep, ground-level understanding of the global energy economy. His work spans corporate affairs, infrastructure, and policy analysis, with a particular focus on eastern India’s resource-rich industrial corridor. He currently writes on the global energy landscape through his newsletter, The Joule’s Stack.
