Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies see big opportunities in thermal energy projects as thermal is expected to remain main stay of mitigating the power demand in the country.
With three fourth of country s electricity generation already coming from coal based thermal energy , the segment is expected to take additional load of power demand in the coming months amidst fall in supply of gas and hydro energy , brokerage have said .
EPC companies clearly see this an opportunity. Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro aims to add nearly 4-5GW of thermal power projects over the next two years out of the total opportunity of 10-15GW ordering in the sector.
Rise in thermal power capacity
The country’s thermal power capacity is projected to rise from 247 GW in FY25 to 309 GW by FY32, requiring an additional 80 GW of coal-based plants and $91 billion in investments.
The renewed traction in the thermal power segment is being driven by a combination of factors – rising baseload demand, energy security considerations, and the need to replace ageing thermal assets, said Subramanian Sarma, deputy managing director and president at L&T said in an emailed response.
“. These themes are consistently articulated by policymakers and key stakeholders. Given L&T’s established presence in this core sector and expanding our manufacturing capacities, it is strategically important for us to actively pursue emerging opportunities and maximise value from them,” Sarma said.
As per its last declared results as of end-December, the share of thermal power accounts for high single-digit percentage of our order book. “We expect this share to see a marginal increase over the next two to three years,” he said .
Sarma in a recent media interaction said that with the economic growth and increase in capita consumption of energy, industrialisation, growth in technology, data centres and AI, energy demand woul rise.
“All of this is going to push the energy demand quite a bit now that energy demand has to be met through multiple sources. I’ am not saying it will be met all with thermal only, but thermal will be still remain a main stay (of mitigating power demand,) ” Sarma said
RPG group’s KEC International which is building private thermal projects, is bidding for a few more such projects , said Vimal Kejriwal, managing director and CEO at the company .
“Today huge number of thermal plants are being built (in the country). And with this issue (West Asia conflict), government will probably push them more. So thermal will definitely see a significant comeback,” Kejriwal said .
Power companies such as NTPC and Adani Power are looking to add sigificanf capacities. State owned NTPC is planning thermal capacity addition with a plan to add 30 GW by FY2032.
Adani Power s looking to add 24GW of thermal power by FY32 , 30% of what the country is looking to add by then. The company is looking to have a capacity of 41.87 GW by FY32 from 18.15GW now .The company has earmarked a capex of Rs 2 lakh crore for this.
Morgan Stanley sees rising risk of lower supplies from gas and hydro power generation in H1FY27. “Thermal coal-based power generation could take increment load, with a risk of higher solar curtailment in specific pockets, which would support a smoother ramp-up in thermal coal power,” the global brokerage said in a report.