The Power Ministry has revised the country’s peak power demand upwards to 458 gigawatts (GW) by 2032 from the earlier estimate of 384 GW.

Addressing the media on the 100 days achievement of the Ministry, Power Minister Manohar Lal said the National Electricity Plan 2023-2032 for Central and State Transmission Systems has been finalised. This plan is aimed at meeting a peak demand of 458 GW by 2032, he added.

In May 2023, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) notified the National Electricity Plan (Vol-I Generation) for the period 2022-32.

Rising power demand

In July this year, Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal pointed out that peak power demand has witnessed a “sharp” increase in several states in the last two years. 

“Already, we have been receiving feedback that our estimate of 384 GW may be an underestimate. That might be easily crossed. What we will need is 900 GW of total installed capacity by 2031-32,” he had said. Agarwal projected that peak demand could surpass 400 GW by 2032.

2024 has been an exceptional year in terms of weather-related energy consumption. April-June was marked by sweltering temperatures coupled with intense heat waves across north India leading to a higher requirement for cooling pushing up electricity demand.

The constantly evolving weather patterns have skewed the government’s electricity demand projections. For instance, the Ministry projected a peak demand (day) of 235 GW during May, but it hit an all time high of 250 GW on May 30. The projection for June was 240 GW, but the demand went up to over 245 GW.

Similarly, peak demand of 243 GW during September 2023 came as a surprise as it was not during the summer months but at the end of the Monsoon period with high heat and humidity leading to more demand for cooling. In 2024, projections put September’s peak at 260 GW.

Ramping up transmission

Under the new plan, the transmission network in the country will be expanded from 4.85 lakh circuit km (ckm) in 2024 to 6.48 lakh ckm in 2032. During the same period the transformation capacity will increase from 1,251 GVA to 2,342 GVA.

Nine High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) lines of 33.25 GW capacity will be added in addition to 33.5 GW presently operating. Inter-Regional transfer capacity will increase from 119 GW to 168 GW. This plan covers the network of 220 kV and above, the Minister said.

Manohar Lal informed that the total cost of the plan is Rs 9.15 lakh crore and will help in meeting the increasing electricity demand, facilitate renewable energy (RE) integration and green hydrogen loads into the grid.

Under the previous plan 2017-22, about 17,700 ckm lines and 73 GVA transformation capacity were added annually.

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