印度最大发电商NTPC有限公司报告称，第二季度利润增长14%，因厄尔尼诺现象导致天气更热更干燥，推高了制冷和灌溉用电需求。
NTPC Ltd., India’s biggest power producer, reported a 14% jump in second-quarter profit as El Niño-induced hotter and drier weather boosted electricity demand for cooling and irrigation.
这家国有公用事业企业周六在证券交易所备案文件中表示，截至9月的三个月净利润升至532亿卢比（约5.6亿美元），高于上年同期的465亿卢比。这一数字超过了彭汇编的分析师平均预期494.2亿卢比。
Net income for the three months through September rose to 53.2 billion rupees ($560 million), from 46.5 billion rupees a year earlier, the state-run utility said in a stock exchange filing Saturday. That surpassed a 49.42 billion rupees average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
受厄尔尼诺气候现象影响，印度今年经历了十多年来最弱的季风降雨，高温天气延长，电力需求增加。水电和风电发电量下降，进一步加大了对燃煤电厂的依赖，而燃煤电厂是NTPC运营的支柱。
India received its weakest monsoon rainfall in more than a decade this year, as the El Niño climate phenomenon prolonged hot-weather conditions and increased demand for power. Lower hydropower and wind generation further boosted reliance on coal-fired plants, the backbone of NTPC’s operations.
电力部数据显示，季度内燃煤发电量增长13%，快于全国总发电量12%的增幅。这家总部位于新德里的公司还受益于燃气发电需求上升，消费者通常因成本较高而避免使用燃气发电。
Coal power output climbed 13% in the quarter, outpacing the 12% increase in overall electricity generation in the country, power ministry data showed. The New-Delhi based firm also benefited from higher demand for gas-fired power, which consumers often avoid because of its higher cost.
公司在业绩发布会上表示，季度售电量增长11.3%，燃煤电厂产能利用率上升逾7个百分点至73.5%。这帮助季度营收增长17%至4575亿卢比。
NTPC’s electricity sales rose 11.3% during the quarter, while capacity utilization at its coal-fired plants rose more than seven percentage points to 73.5%, the company said in an earnings presentation. That helped boost the quarter’s revenue by 17% to 457.5 billion rupees.
根据其网站，煤电占NTPC近61吉瓦独立装机容量的近90%。若计入子公司和合资企业，这一比例降至约四分之三。
Coal accounts for nearly 90% of NTPC’s almost 61 gigawatts of standalone generation capacity, according to its website. The share drops to about three-quarters when its subsidiaries and joint ventures are included.
为配合政府推动能源安全，公司持续扩大燃煤装机，同时拓宽清洁能源组合，并计划到2047年建设30吉瓦核电机组。
The company continues to expand coal-fired capacity in line with the government’s push for energy security while broadening its clean-energy portfolio and also has plans to build a 30-gigawatt nuclear power fleet by 2047.