PowerWatch | As demand grows, power cuts become regular affair

PowerWatch

The country witnessed a peak power demand of 213.89 gigawatts (GW) on May 18. The demand, which could not be met on the day, or the peak demand deficit, increased to 2,838 megawatts (MW) from 1,777 MW on May 17.

With the growing demand, several parts of the country also witnessed power cuts. In Pune, more than 3.50 lakh consumers experienced power cuts on May 18 evening due to a sudden technical problem, which was restored after 3-4 hours. Residents of Ghaziabad and other parts of Uttar Pradesh also faced frequent power cuts. Several areas in Chennai also faced power outages for five hours on May 18, due to maintenance work.

On May 17, the country met a peak power demand of 221 GW, the highest in India so far. The demand on May 17 exceeded the previous high of 215.88 GW, which was met on April 18 when large parts of the country were experiencing similar heatwave conditions.

In 2022, the highest peak demand met was 212 GW on June 10.

The Power Ministry expects the peak demand to touch 230 GW this summer and Power Minister RK Singh told Moneycontrol the country is prepared to meet the demand.

Last year, the summer season witnessed intense heatwaves, which pushed up electricity demand from industries as well as households, and a coal shortage led to outages in several parts of the country.

To avoid a repeat of the incident this time, the Power Ministry has taken appropriate measures such as mandating all imported coal-based thermal plants to operate at full capacity.

The country’s coal stock situation continues to be “manageable” as of now, according to the data. Of the 165 domestic coal-based thermal power plants in the country, 33 had critical coal stocks as of May 18. Last year at this time, the number of such plants was around 96-110. About 33 million tonnes (MT) of coal are stocked at the thermal power plants.