India’s peak power demand met during the day rose to a record 250 gigawatts (GW) as intense heat waves parched lands across north, northwestern and central India, resulting in a higher requirement for cooling.
“In a significant achievement, India’s power sector met a record maximum power demand of 250 GW on May 30, 2024. Moreover, the all-India non-solar demand met also touched an all-time high of 234.3 GW on May 29, reflecting the combined impact of weather-related loads and growing industrial and residential power consumption in these areas,” Power Ministry said.
On Thursday, the Northern region achieved a record demand met of 86.7 GW, while the Western region also touched its maximum demand met of 74.8 GW, it added.
The strategic implementation of Section-11 facilitated the maximisation of generation from imported coal- and 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, the Ministry said.
Support from renewable energy sources, especially solar during solar hours and wind during non-solar hours, was significant in meeting the demand, it added.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the intensity of heat waves has reduced slightly over some parts of northwest and adjoining central India.
“However, heat wave to severe heat wave conditions prevailed over many parts of Rajasthan, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, Jharkhand, East Madhya Pradesh; in some parts of Uttar Pradesh and Odisha today,” it added.
Heat wave conditions prevailed in many parts of Punjab, West Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh; in some parts of Bihar, Gujarat and Vidarbha and in isolated pockets of Himachal Pradesh, the weatherman said.