India’s power demand to grow 6-6.5% annually through FY2030, driven by EVs, data centres, green Hydrogen: Icra

India’s power demand is projected to grow by 6.0–6.5 per cent annually over the following 5 years, driven by accelerating electrical automobile (EV) adoption, speedy enlargement of data centres, and the event of green hydrogen tasks, in accordance to ICRA.“These three segments are expected to contribute to 20–25 per cent of the incremental demand over the next five-year period from FY2026 to FY2030,” mentioned Vikram V, Vice President & Co-Group Head – Corporate Ratings, ICRA, quoted by ANI. However, he additionally claimed that this rising demand for grid capability may very well be partially offset by the growing uptake of rooftop photo voltaic and off-grid options, aided by initiatives just like the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Yojana.The report highlights that the EV sector will see broad-based development, led by three-wheelers, adopted by two-wheelers, electrical buses and passenger automobiles.For FY2026, ICRA expects a robust thermal plant load issue of 70 per cent, backed by a projected power demand development of 5.0–5.5 per cent. Total power technology capability is forecast to rise to 44 GW in FY2026, up from 34 GW in FY2024, with contributions from each renewable and thermal sources.“The thermal segment is expected to add 9–10 GW capacity in FY2026, while the remaining capacity addition will primarily come from renewable energy,” the company mentioned. While renewables will proceed to dominate capability development, ICRA famous a big uptick in thermal tasks underneath building, which at present exceed 40 GW.The company additionally noticed that the anticipated FY2026 demand development of 5.0–5.5 per cent is barely under its GDP development forecast of 6.5 per cent for a similar interval, attributing the hole to the anticipated early onset and above-average monsoon, which tends to dampen cooling and agricultural power demand.