Power demand down 22 pc at 127.96 GW

Peak power demand in the country declined by around 22 per cent to 127.96 GW on Wednesday compared to 163.72 GW on March 20, showing the impact of lockdown amid COVID-19 outbreak.

In actual terms, the power demand has come down by about 35 GW on Wednesday in a week's time.

The peak demand met was down mainly due to lower industry and state power distribution utilities demand across the county as industrial and commercial establishments are completely shut under the lockdown.

An industry source said, "The peak demand met was 163.72 GW on March 20, which came down to 161.74 GW on March 21. The demad dropped sharply to 135.20 GW on March 22 due a call for Janata Curfew by the Prime Minister".

The source further said the peak demand met improved slightly to 145.49 GW on Monday but fell again to 135.93 GW on Tuesday and subsequently to 127.96GW on Wednesday, showing the impact of lockdown.

In view of COVID-19 outbreak, the government has imposed lockdown for 21-days earlier this week.

The spot power price touched three year low of 60 paisa per unit for supplies on Wednesday on Indian Energy Exchange due to low demand.

The source said that the average spot power price is estimated to be around Rs 2 per unit for supply on Friday, which is lower than Rs 2.24 per unit for supply on Thursday.

Peak power demand met was 168.7 GW for the month of March in 2019. It was 176.38 GW in February this year.