India’s peak electricity demand touched a new high of 250 GW on Thursday as the temperatures rose across states, according to data provided by the power ministry.
At this level, the peak power demand had already crossed last year’s peak of 243.3 GW recorded in September. Meanwhile, power demand during the non-solar hours too reached an all-time high of 234.3 GW on Wednesday across the country.
The rising peak demand for power reflects the combined impact of weather-related loads and growing industrial and residential power consumption in these areas, the government said.
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On Thursday, the northern region also achieved a record demand met, reaching an all-time high of 86.7 GW, while the western region touched its maximum demand met of 74.8 GW. As the peak demand increased to a new high, the country’s thermal power generation too hit an all-time high of 176 GW (ex-bus), especially during non-solar hours, according to the government.
“A key contributor in this has been strategic implementation of Section-11, which facilitated the maximisation of generation from imported coal-based plants as well as gas-based plants.
This surge further underscores the significant capacity and operational efficiency of India’s thermal power plants, which continue to be a backbone of the nation’s energy mix,” it said.
The government highlighted that support from renewable energy sources, especially solar during solar hours and wind during non-solar hours is also very significant in meeting the peak demand.
Prior to this, the country’s peak demand had touched 246.1 GW on Wednesday, data from Grid India showed. As per the operator, the country witnessed power shortages of around 1.3 GW during the non-solar hours in some regions while demand during the day-time has so far been successfully met. The peak power demand in the national capital also hit the highest-ever recorded level of 8.3 GW on Wednesday, higher than the previous record of 8.0 GW registered last week.
“The persistent heat wave across North India is leading to a sharp demand surge for electricity in the National Capital. At Tata Power-DDL’s end, we successfully met our highest-ever peak power demand of 2,339 MW (or 2.3 GW) and have made sufficient arrangements to meet the demand,” said a spokesperson of Tata Power – DDL.
The power ministry had earlier projected a peak power demand of 235 GW during daytime and 225 GW during the evening hours for the month. For June, the daytime peak demand for power is estimated at 240 GW and 235 GW during the non-solar hours. However, the country has already breached the estimates projected for June.
In the ongoing summer season, the power ministry has projected the peak demand to touch 260 GW. In April, the peak power demand met rose to 224.18 gigawatt (GW) as against 215.88 GW in the same period last year. Power consumption during the month came at 144.25 BU, 10.5% higher than 130.55 BU in April FY23.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
