India aims to achieve 175 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022. While this is expected to lower carbon emissions and help meet the growing energy demand, the integration of renewables into the grid will be a big challenge. Renewable energy generation suffers from fluctuations, predictable and unpredictable, due to uncertainty in weather conditions. While gas and hydropower plants are known for their flexible power generation capabilities, coal power plants face certain technical limitations and need physical as well as operational modifications to achieve flexibilisation.
Taking cognisance of the need for flexibility in coal power plant operations, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) constituted a committee in January 2018 to assess the technical capability and economic feasibility of coal-based power plants for flexible operation.
