Earth Hour 2017: Delhi saves 290 MW by switching off lights

Switching off lights and electrical appliances during the Earth Hour initiative this year, Delhi saved around 290 MW of power, the capital's distribution companies (discoms) announced on Sunday.

The global Earth Hour initiative aimed at energy conservation was observed between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. on Saturday.

"This is more than last year when Delhi had saved around 230 MW," a spokesperson of power major BSES said here.

The discom said its twin arms BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), which cater to large parts of Delhi, saved around 113 MW and 95 MW of electricity, respectively, making for a total of 208 MW saving in BSES areas.

BRPL and BYPL had also switched off all non-essential lights at their over 400 offices, spread across an area of around 950 sq km, during the appointed hour.

With its 40 lakh consumers, BSES areas in the capital last year had saved around 207 MW during this annual event.

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd saved 82 MW of power during Earth Hour 2017, the company said in a statement. It had managed to save around 55 MW during the event last year.

Tata Power, which distributes in North and North-West Delhi, said it "also organised several candlelight marches during the Earth Hour in association with consumers and residents' welfare associations in its distribution area," towards sensitising on energy conservation.Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that urges households and businesses across the world to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour at the appointed time to raise awareness on the need to take action on climate change.

On Saturday, Delhiites joined over a billion people in Mumbai, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Rome, Manila, Singapore, Dubai and in over 7,000 cities across the six continents across the globe to observe the Earth Hour.