Sultry weather pushes peak power demand in Delhi to 7,398 MW - highest this year

The sultry weather in the national capital pushed the peak power demand in the city to 7,398 MW Friday afternoon – the highest this year so far.

The State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) Delhi's real time data showed that the peak demand was 7,398 MW at around 3.10 pm. The peak power demand measures the power consumption in megawatt at any given time within 24 hours of a day.

The previous highest peak demand in this year was 7,226 MW on June 14. The highest even peak power demand of Delhi was recorded at 7,601 MW in June last year, officials said.

The power discoms in the city have estimated the peak demand to shoot up to 8,100 MW this season.

The demand was successfully managed by BSES discoms - BRPL and BYPL- in their respective distribution areas, said a company spokesperson.

A Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL) spokesperson said the peak demand was 2,163 MW in the discom's area that was met successfully, without any network constraint and power outage.

The peak power demand crossed the 7,000 MW mark for the first time this year on June 13. It has crossed the 7,000 MW-mark twice in July so far.

In 2018, the peak power demand breached the 7,000 MW mark for the first time, reaching a peak of 7,016 MW, in Delhi.

The BSES discoms are geared-up to ensure reliable power supply to meet the power demand of nearly 49 lakh consumers and around 2 crore residents in south, west, east and central Delhi, said the company spokesperson.

The ways for meeting the demand include long-term power and banking arrangements with other states including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

BSES discoms are getting up to 630 MW of power through banking arrangements.

Green power is also playing an important role in ensuring constant power supply during the summer months in BSES areas.

This includes around 888 MW of solar power, 486 MW of wind power, and 40 MW from waste-to-energy plants, he added.