CESC Southern PLF rises to 83.8% in Q2 FY27, units jump

CESC Limited reported that Southern Generating Station’s plant load factor rose to 83.8% in Q2 FY27 from 29.8% in Q2 FY26, while sent-out units increased to 224 million units from 78 million units. The 54-percentage-point rise was the largest year-on-year plant load factor increase among the generation assets listed by CESC.

How much did CESC Southern Generating Station’s utilisation improve?

CESC’s Southern Generating Station improved its plant load factor, or PLF, by 54 percentage points year on year to 83.8% in Q2 FY27. Sent-out units increased by 146 million units to 224 million units, compared with 78 million units in Q2 FY26, according to CESC’s operating-performance table.

Southern has installed capacity of 135 megawatts, comprising two 67.5 MW units. Its Q2 FY27 PLF of 83.8% was below the 88.1% reported for the 600 MW Dhariwal Infrastructure plant, but Southern’s smaller capacity meant its 224 million units of sent-out electricity were materially lower than Dhariwal’s 1,085 million units.

The quarter also contrasts with Southern’s FY26 full-year operating record. CESC reported FY26 generation of 369 million units and a PLF of 31.2% at Southern, whereas Q2 FY27 alone recorded a PLF of 83.8%. The periods are not directly comparable, but the figures show substantially higher utilisation during the reported quarter than in FY26 overall.

Which CESC plants had the highest PLF in Q2 FY27?

CESC’s Haldia Energy had the highest reported Q2 FY27 PLF at 99.2%, followed by Budge Budge Generating Station at 90.4%, Dhariwal Infrastructure at 88.1% and Southern at 83.8%. Haldia sent out 1,216 million units from 600 MW, while Budge Budge sent out the largest volume, 1,365 million units, from 750 MW.

Budge Budge’s PLF rose by 4.6 percentage points from 85.8% in Q2 FY26, and its sent-out units rose by 70 million units from 1,295 million units. Dhariwal’s PLF increased by 2.9 percentage points from 85.2%, while sent-out units rose by 41 million units from 1,044 million units. Southern’s 54-percentage-point gain exceeded the improvement at both larger thermal stations.

Haldia’s PLF declined by 1.4 percentage points from 100.6% in Q2 FY26, with sent-out units decreasing by 18 million units from 1,234 million units. CESC did not explain the reported PLF calculation above 100% in Q2 FY26, but Haldia remained the highest-utilised listed asset in Q2 FY27 at 99.2%.

What changed across CESC’s generation assets year on year?

CESC reported higher Q2 FY27 sent-out units at Southern, Budge Budge and Dhariwal, while Haldia Energy and Crescent Power reported lower output. Southern added 146 million units, Budge Budge added 70 million units and Dhariwal added 41 million units against Q2 FY26.

Haldia’s output fell by 18 million units and Crescent’s declined by 14 million units to 58 million units. Solar (TN), with 18 MW of capacity, reported unchanged sent-out units of 6 million units and an unchanged 21.0% PLF in both Q2 FY27 and Q2 FY26.

Crescent recorded the largest PLF decline in the table, falling to 75.9% from 93.0% a year earlier. CESC’s FY26 asset overview describes Crescent as a 40 MW thermal power plant using coal washery rejects and supplying power through short-term competitive arrangements.

Southern moved from the lowest PLF among the listed thermal assets in Q2 FY26, at 29.8%, to above Crescent’s Q2 FY27 PLF of 75.9%. Its 83.8% PLF nevertheless remained below the Q2 FY27 readings at Budge Budge, Haldia and Dhariwal, each of which has capacity of 600 MW or more.

How does Southern fit within CESC’s thermal fleet?

CESC lists Southern as one of five thermal power plants in its FY26 generation-asset overview, alongside Budge Budge, Haldia, Chandrapur and Crescent. At 135 MW, Southern is smaller than Budge Budge’s 750 MW capacity and the 600 MW capacities at Haldia and Chandrapur, but larger than Crescent’s 40 MW capacity.

In FY26, Southern generated 369 million units at a 31.2% PLF, compared with Budge Budge’s 5,368 million units at 85.3% and Haldia’s 4,986 million units at 96.7%. Chandrapur generated 4,359 million units at an 82.9% PLF in FY26; CESC’s Q2 FY27 operating table identifies the corresponding 600 MW asset as Dhariwal Infrastructure.

CESC lists CESC Kolkata as the power-purchase-agreement counterparty for Southern, Budge Budge and Haldia. It lists CIL linkage coal and e-auction coal as Southern’s fuel sources. For Chandrapur, 187 MW is tied to NPCL and 100 MW to TANGEDCO, with the remaining capacity described as medium-term, short-term or merchant supply.

The presentation describes the thermal fleet as baseload generation that supports distribution reliability and margin stability. It does not disclose the operational reason for Southern’s Q2 FY27 improvement, plant outage details, or an FY27 PLF target for the 135 MW station.

What should readers compare in CESC’s next operating update?

Readers should compare whether Southern sustains a PLF near 83.8% after Q2 FY27 and whether sent-out units remain above the 78 million units reported in Q2 FY26. CESC provides both the quarterly operating result and FY26 annual data, but does not provide monthly output, coal-consumption data or a full-year FY27 target for Southern.

Readers should also compare utilisation at the higher-capacity stations. Budge Budge, Haldia and Dhariwal together represent 1,950 MW, versus Southern’s 135 MW, and reported Q2 FY27 PLFs of 90.4%, 99.2% and 88.1%, respectively. Changes at those three assets would affect total sent-out units more than an equivalent PLF change at Southern.

CESC’s wider operating data also show that its Kolkata distribution operation sold 3,468 million units in Q2 FY27, including export and banking, against 3,226 million units in Q2 FY26. Southern’s listed PPA linkage to CESC Kolkata provides the disclosed connection between the generating station and the group’s largest distribution operation.

Conclusion

CESC’s Q2 FY27 data show a marked recovery at Southern, where PLF rose to 83.8% from 29.8% and sent-out units reached 224 million units from 78 million units. The improvement was larger than the PLF gains reported at Budge Budge and Dhariwal, while Haldia remained near full utilisation despite lower year-on-year output and Crescent’s utilisation declined.

The next operating disclosure will show whether Southern’s Q2 FY27 performance continues beyond a single quarter. CESC has not disclosed a Southern FY27 output or PLF target, nor an explanation for the increase, leaving subsequent sent-out units and PLF readings as the main disclosed measures to watch.