With no rain for the third day in a row, the hot and 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. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Twitter said that despite the power demand peaking on Friday, there was 24-hour power supply in the city. "... No power cuts.
I remember that before 2015, there used to be long power cuts when the power demand would reach even 6,000 MW," he 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.
Cooling load caused by extensive use of airconditioners, coolers and fans is the main reason behind Delhi's power load during the summers, they said. In fact, according to estimates, around 50 per cent of Delhi's power demand in summers is because of the cooling load, discom officials said.
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 highest peak power demand in the previous years was 7323 MW in 2021, 6314 MW in 2020, 7409 in 2019 and 7016 MW in 2018.