India’s peak power demand met during the day on Thursday hit an all time high of 210.8 GW, . The record consumption is attributed to scorching summer with mercury hitting record levels, especially in north, central and east India

During the first nine days of June, India’s peak power demand met during the day surpassed the 200 GW mark a record seven times. On June 8 as well, the peak demand was 209.8 GW, which was higher than the April 29 peak of 207 GW.

“In an unprecedented move, the nation’s electricity demand on June 9, 2022, clocked an all time high 210.79 GW at 1500 hours. Adding on to the record breaking streak on June 8, the nation’s energy consumption also clocked a historic 4,712 million units (MU),” Power Minister RK Singh tweeted.

Increasing power consumption

The Ministry estimates that demand is expected to hit 215-220 GW during June. Government and other stakeholders are working together to ensure unhindered power supply and efforts at all fronts are being made and measures are being taken for better utilisation of various resources.

The union Power Ministry is constantly monitoring the coal and power situation in the country and has been insistent that States and electricity boards stock up on coal through imports to meet power demand, especially during the monsoon months when mining and transport of the commodity is impacted due to the rains.

Energy consumption in April 2022 grew 11 per cent Y-o-Y to 133 billion units (BU). The national peak demand met during the day was at an all time high of 207.11 GW, up 13 per cent on an annual basis (April 29).

On a day-to-day basis, power demand is around 40-45 GW more than the same period last year. Energy consumption has also gone up from 3,500 MU on an average to 4,500 MU during the same period.

High temperatures

The exponential rise in power demand is attributed to scorching temperatures across India, particularly in parts of North-west, Central and East India. With predictions of heat waves continuing for the next few days, the demand for electricity is expected to be high, at least till June 11. In the next few days, heat wave conditions are expected in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, South UP, North-West Rajasthan, North MP, interior Odisha and Jharkhand.

However, with conditions becoming favourable for the advance of monsoon in South India, especially, some parts of South Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the power demand in South India will come down a bit, a Power Ministry official explained.

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