India’s power demand climbed 14% in a week as data centres alone are expected to add 26.3 GW of fresh load to the grid.

According to a JM Financial report, average daily energy demand touched 5,523 million units last week, up 14% from the same period a year ago.

Peak solar demand hit a record 258 GW, up 17% year on year, while peak non-solar demand rose 10% to 248 GW.

The grid largely kept up, with zero shortfall during solar hours and a gap of just 1,280 MW during non-solar hours.

A large chunk of this demand is coming from data centres. The Ministry of Power now expects them to add 26.3 GW of load across 11 states.

Developers have already applied for grid connectivity covering around 17 GW of that, while applications for the remaining 9.3 GW are still pending.

States are moving on multiple fronts to keep up. Rajasthan has eased its land allotment rules to speed up approvals for large renewable energy parks and green hydrogen projects, even before grid connections are finalised.

The state has close to five lakh acres set aside, enough to support 100 to 125 GW of solar capacity.

It has also revived a 3,200 MW thermal power tender that was scrapped back in June after pushback from regulators and climate groups. Andhra Pradesh is taking a different approach.

Its chief minister has asked officials to expand generation capacity using pumped storage projects across 130 reservoirs, along with better integration of solar and wind power.

The state is targeting a power purchase cost of Rs 4.6 a unit this year, falling to Rs 4 a unit by 2029. Kerala, meanwhile, is testing something smaller.

It’s running a battery storage pilot in Kollam district that will give four hour backup power to 200 households with rooftop solar, with the state electricity board handling the grid side.

Separately, Reliance Industries has proposed India’s first underground coal gasification complex in Andhra Pradesh, an investment of Rs 2.73 lakh crore spread across 30 years.

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