Thanks to new generation capacity addition coming on stream, led by a big boost in private project commissioning, a new record has been achieved in meeting peak demand this year.
Amid soaring temperatures that touched a nine-year record on May 12, the peak demand met on Thursday was nearly 10 per cent higher compared to the same day last year. Correspondingly, peak shortages were down 36 per cent on an all-India basis and sharply lower on a year-on-year basis across all the five regional grids.
As a result, power cuts have been comparatively lower so far this year, especially in the northern, eastern and southern regions, though the prospect of consumers being left high and dry due to a massive fuel crunch affecting thermal capacity is a possibility in the coming years.
On an all-India basis, the peak demand met on Thursday was 1,10,116 MW, an improvement of 9.5 per cent over the same day last year. Peak shortage was down 35.9 per cent this year as compared to May 12 last year. “A combination of factors, including the weather, the boost in capacity addition and the overall growth momentum in the country have contributed to the trend,” an official with the Central Electricity Authority said.
The data reveals a perceptible surge in peak demand in the North-East, which signifies a push towards industrialisation and a broader integration with the economic mainstream of the country, officials said.
Interestingly, despite the higher demand met across the country, the frequency profile has improved correspondingly, implying lesser violations of the grid code norms by States. With respect to the requisite 49.5-50.2 Hertz band, the grid frequency in the integrated NEW grid (North, East, West and North-East grid) was within limits over 96 per cent of the time on May 11 this year and nearly 91 per cent of the time in the Southern region. As opposed to this, the figures for the same day the previous year were 62 per cent for the NEW Grid and 79 per cent for the Southern Grid.