Scorching heat drives India's gas-fired power use to multi-year highs in May

By Sudarshan Varadhan and Sarita Chaganti Singh Scorching heat drives India's gas-fired power use to multi-year highs in May NEW DELHI - Sweltering heat and policy measures are fuelling a surge in the use of gas-fired power in India, with imports of liquefied natural gas forecast to rise sharply over the next two years, industry officials and experts say. An emergency clause invoked to force operation of idle gas-fired power plants to avoid power cuts during the 43-day federal elections that ended last week also drove gas usage, industry officials said, as power outages have historically been a key electoral issue. "India's LNG imports will continue to be driven higher by the power sector in at least the next two years," said Victor Vanya, director at Indian power analytics firm EMA Solutions. Gas's flexibility and a 2022 federal regulation that provided a policy framework for operating more expensive gas-fired power plants have helped boost the fuel's use, industry officials and experts said.