Higher rainfall during in October 2019 has led to a reduction in the power demand across the agriculture sector and in the cooling requirement of the domestic and commercial sectors according to the Ministry of Power.

"In the month of October there was a decline (of power demand) because the rainfall was 35 per cent above normal in October 2019...India was blessed with the prolonged rainy season and good rainfall the current year 2019-2020 (up to October 2019). Due to this, there has been 16 per cent growth in generation from hydro and around 22 per cent growth in hydro power imported from Bhutan," a statement from the Power Ministry said.

"There has been 27 per cent growth in generation from nuclear power plants and 24 per cent growth in generation from solar. Thus, the share of green power (generation from non-fossil fuel) has been around 27.3 per cent, a substantial increase compared to a share of 19.6 per cent during the 2015-2016," the statement added.

The Ministry of Power was responding to reports that there has been fall in demand for power in the country.

"The monthly growth in electrical energy availability in the country has been in the range of 6.5 per cent to 8.5 per cent from April 2019 to July 2019. The growth during the first quarter of the current year was around 7.5 per cent, and in July it was 6.7 per cent,” the statement said.

Predicting an increase of thermal power demand, the statement said, "From November 2019 till March 2020 the electricity demand will largely be met from thermal power stations. Thus the plant load factor (PLF) of thermal power station for the year 2019-2020 would improve to around 60 per cent as per the target."

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