Page 6 - Electricity Sector

India's coal-based power demand rise by 7.3%, at all-time high: Govt

Peak demand for power in India's hot, arid northern plains hit a record earlier this week, even as the government said it continues to implement measures to meet high energy consumption

Amid heatwave, Delhi's peak power demand reaches record high of 8,647 MW

Persistent heat wave drove the national capital's peak power demand on Tuesday afternoon to 8,647 MW, the highest ever for the city, discom officials said. The previous highest peak power demand of Delhi was 8,302 MW on May 29 this year. Delhi's peak power demand reached 8,000 MW for the first time on May 22, 2024, they said. The extreme heatwave continues to push the city's power demand northwards, soaring to 8,647 MW at 3:22 pm on Tuesday, according to the State Load Dispatch Centre, Delhi. The cooling load due to the increased use of air conditioners and coolers amid the relentless heat wave has led to a record rise in power demand in the national capital. Since May 22, Delhi's peak power demand has crossed 8,000 MW eight times so far, discom officials said. "The power demand can be attributed to weather conditions that led residents to use more air conditioning and cooling appliances, pushing electricity consumption. It is estimated that air conditioning can contribute to 30-50

Day after load crash, power ministry says have enough power capacity

"Despite challenging conditions, the highest-ever peak demand of 89 Gw in the Northern Region was successfully met on June 17, 2024," the ministry said

Power ministry asks utilities to be on high alert due to rising demand

The power ministry on Tuesday said it has asked all utilities "to maintain a high state of alert and minimise forced outages of equipment" amid heatwave pushing electricity demand, especially in the northern region where Monsoon is yet to arrive. The country's northern region has been experiencing high electricity demand due to a prevailing heatwave since May 17, 2024, the ministry said in a statement. Despite these challenging conditions, the ministry said, the highest ever peak demand of 89 GW in the northern region was successfully met on June 17, 2024. It was made possible by importing 25-30 per cent of the region's power requirement from neighbouring regions, it said. "All utilities have been advised to maintain a high state of alert and minimise forced outages of equipment," the statement said. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast, heatwave conditions in North-West India are expected to abate from June 20. In response to the increased electricity

Delhi airport faces brief power outage; flight operations unaffected

Delhi Airport, India's busiest, handles roughly 1,270 scheduled flights daily, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium

Uttar Pradesh speeds up thermal power projects to meet energy demand

The two projects will generate a total of 3,300 megawatt (Mw) augmenting the state's indigenous capacity

No monthly minimum charges for domestic power consumers: Haryana CM Saini

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Monday said the monthly minimum charges for domestic power consumers have been abolished and electricity bill will now be based on the number of units consumed. An official statement quoting the chief minister said from now on, people of the state will receive bills based solely on the number of units of electricity consumed. "From now on, residents of the state will receive bills based solely on the number of units of electricity consumed, providing much-needed relief to electricity consumers," the statement said. Saini was addressing an event in Ambala, while launching the additional subsidy scheme in Haryana under the "Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana". Under the scheme, Saini said a subsidy of Rs 60,000 will be provided by the central government, for setting up a rooftop solar plant for poor families having an annual income of less than Rs 1,80,000. Additionally, a subsidy of Rs 50,000 will be provided by the state governm

India should reduce coal imports, says G Kishan Reddy after taking charge

G Kishan Reddy on Thursday took charge as coal and mines minister and said that India should increase domestic production of the fossil-fuel and reduce coal imports. In the previous Narendra Modi government, both the ministries were led by Pralhad Joshi. Joshi who is the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and New and Renewable Energy was also present during the occasion and wished Reddy all the success. "We should reduce import and increase domestic production," he told reporters after taking charge. India's coal import rose by 7.7 per cent to 268.24 million tonnes (MT) in FY '24. Reddy further said 10 years ago there was a coal shortage in the country and due to this there was also a shortage of electricity. But in the last 10 years there has been sufficient power availability. When asked what will be the priority of his government for the mines sector, he said "I have just taken charge and I will review the department... first I want to see my officers the

Fire at UP substation trips power supply to several parts of Delhi

Outage reportedly disrupted charge-taking ceremony at various ministries

Major electricity outage in parts of Delhi due to fire at UP power grid

Delhi power outage news: The power restoration process has begun and electricity is now gradually returning to different areas, Delhi Minister Atishi said

How smart meters are powering change for companies, consumers in country

Devices help electricity firms in preventing leakages and improving revenue by providing real-time data

Bajaj Auto's affordable Chetak 2901 charges up electric scooter market

Bigger players have cornered an 80% share of this segment compared to them commanding only 50-60% a year back

Monthly natural gas trades shoot up 480% in May: Indian Gas Exchange

Higher demand from gas-based power plants amid hot weather fuelled the rise

Scorching heat fuels India's gas-fired power use to multi-year highs in May

More than 75 per cent of India's power generation was from coal in 2023, while gas-fired plants have accounted for only about 2 per cent in recent years, largely because of the high cost of gas

Rail coal freight volume rises 9.3% on summer demand pull: Govt data

All other commodities flat or lower as rail freight grows 3.9% in May

Delhi discoms relying on advanced tech transformers to ensure power supply

The power discoms operating in Delhi are relying on their advanced-technology transformers to ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity, with the peak demand ranging around 8,000 MW amid a scorching heatwave in the city. The transformers used by the BSES are designed to operate at 40 degrees above the ambient (area) temperature, said a spokesperson of the company. "This basically means that the transformers can operate at up to 40 degrees more than the prevalent area temperature. For example, if the area temperature is 48 degrees Celsius, these can operate till 88 degrees Celsius without any external aid," he said. The BSES discoms (distribution companies) -- BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) -- supply electricity to most parts of the city except North Delhi. "Due to the modern design and technology, there is no need for any external aid like a fan to cool the transformer," the BSES spokesperson said. Transformers getting overheated and bu

Delhi fire dept got over 200 calls on May 29, highest so far this year

Fire-related calls surged to 180 on Wednesday recording a nearly three-fold rise over the single-day calls received by the Delhi Fire Service, with officials attributing the increase to heatwave conditions prevailing in the national capital. The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) received 220 calls, including 183 fire-related, on Wednesday, the highest so far this year, officials said. The remaining calls were related to bird and animal rescue. From January 1 to May 26, the department received 8,912 fire-related calls, according to the data shared by the DFS on Monday. "We received 183 calls fire-related 24 hours, ending midnight of May 29," DFS chief Atul Garg said. This was the highest single-day calls recorded so far this year. Usually, we receive almost 150 calls in the whole summer season -- 60 are fire-related and the remaining are related to animal rescue. But this time there is a three-fold rise," he said. With the temperature soaring in the city and hovering near the 50-degree Cel

India's peak power demand touches new record high of 246 Gigawatts

During the current year, May has witnessed several power demand records

Discoms ramp up power supply during elections, despite demand surge

States like Karnataka, Odisha and Haryana have kept their power tariffs unchanged, while Bihar has cut rates

Govt projects biggest power shortfall in 14 years, races to curb outages

The deficit also follows delays, a government source said, in the commissioning of 3.6 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-fired plants which had been targeted to be operational before March