India's power demand at fresh high of 256 Gw amid scorching heatwave

India's power demand peaked at a record high of 256 Gigawatt (GW) on Saturday as temperatures soared simultaneously across regions pushing electricity consumption by cooling load centers through the roof. This comes after the earlier record of 252 GW was achieved only a day before on Friday.

 

Fresh data from the Grid Controller of India shows that electricity demand met by the grid touched a peak of 256.11 GW at 3:38 pm on Saturday, 25 April, up from 252.11 GW recorded on Friday, 24 April. This was mainly due to the increased use of air conditioners across consuming sub-segments.

 

The earlier record demand was registered at 249 GW on May 30, 2024. States recording the highest demand for power on Saturday included Maharashtra with 31,721 Megawatt (Mw), Uttar Pradesh's 26,032 MW, Gujarat's 25,360 MW, Tamil Nadu's 20,913 MW, Karnataka's 17,621 MW and Madhya Pradesh at 14,075 MW. 

 

The power ministry has estimated peak power demand this year to rise to 271 GW on the back of a harsh summer. Demand is expected to rise further in the coming months with India Meteorological Department (IMD) indicating development of heatwave conditions across Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, J&K, and Rajasthan.

 

Last year, the power ministry had estimated highest demand level of 270 GW but demand peaked at 242 GW in June. In the current calendar year, demand crossed the 245 GW mark in January itself owing to intense cold conditions.

 

On Saturday, IMD had issued a heatwave advisory as temperatures crossed 44 Degree Celsius and warned of worsening conditions across several regions in the coming days. The highest maximum temperature of 47.4 Degree Celsius was reported at Banda in Uttar Pradesh. 

 

In its latest assessment on Sunday, IMD said that maximum day temperatures were in the range of 40-45 Degree Celsius over most parts of the country. "Maximum/day temperatures were markedly above normal (more than 5.1 Degree Celsius) over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, southwest Rajasthan," IMD said in its advisory, adding that heat wave conditions are likely to persist over pockets of northwest and central India during the next three days and abate thereafter.

 

Electricity demand data from the Grid Controller of India shows a gradual but consistent buildup of peak power demand this month, ranging between 200 GW on 5 April and 256 GW recorded on Saturday.