Context: India peak power demand 2026
India met a record peak electricity demand of 256.1 GW (25 April 2026) amid rising summer demand, with supply dominated by coal-based thermal power and supported by solar.
Peak Demand & Grid
- Peak demand: 256.1 GW
- Grid frequency: 50.00 Hz
Source-wise Contribution (Peak — in GW)
- Thermal (Coal): 174.6 GW (66.9%)
- Solar: 56.2 GW (21.5%)
- Hydro: 11.4 GW (4.4%)
- Nuclear: 6.3 GW (2.4%)
- Gas: 5.2 GW (2.0%)
- Wind: 4.9 GW (1.9%)
- Others + Storage: ~2.3 GW (~0.9%)
Thermal Power & Coal
- Share in generation: 66.9%
- Coal stock: ~200 million tonnes
- Sufficiency: >83 days
Capacity Addition (Last 1 Year)
- Solar capacity added (FY 2025–26): 44.61 GW
- More than double the addition in the previous year
Core Insight
- Coal remains backbone (~67%) for peak demand stability
- Solar is second-largest (~21.5%) but still secondary to coal
- Rapid solar capacity addition (44.61 GW) yet limited peak share reflects storage/grid constraints
