India’s peak electricity demand climbed to a record last month, driven mainly by the increased use of cooling appliances to beat the sweltering heat.
Power requirement reached 223.3 gigawatts on June 9, a rise of 3.4% from the highest level in 2022, according to data from the power ministry. The peak load surpassed last year’s high on several days in the April to June quarter, the hottest period of the year in India.
Still, the peak demand in June was lower than the high of 229 gigawatts the power ministry had forecast, thanks to cooler temperatures in parts of the country that eased the load on coal supplies.
Record output at mines has helped lift inventories at power stations by 30% from a year earlier to last for an average of 13 days, well below the desired level but enough to prevent widespread blackouts.
Temperatures generally drop during the June-September rainy season and hydro power output increases, but heavy downpours often flood coal mines, affecting production and transport of the fuel that produces nearly three-quarters of India’s electricity. In 2021, prolonged rains, coupled with an unexpected rebound in post-pandemic electricity demand, starved power stations of the crucial fuel and caused one of the country’s worst energy crises.
Also Read: PowerWatch | Peak demand touched 194.2 GW on July 28; share of renewables at 13.61%
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