PowerWatch | Demand ebbs as heatwave subsides in most parts of country

India's power demand tapered off to 184 GW on April from 215 GW on April 18.

India met a peak power demand of 184 gigawatts (GW) on April 23, the lowest in the week, as the heat ebbed in several parts of the country, data seen by Moneycontrol shows. The demand, which could not be met on the day, or the peak demand deficit, stood at 34 megawatts (MW).

Earlier in the week, several parts of the country were lashed by unseasonal rain, which caused damage to the wheat crop, but brought respite from soaring temperatures.

On April 18, when large parts of the country were reeling under heat-wave conditions, the peak electricity demand that was met was 215.88 GW (215,882 MW), a record high, so far.

In 2022, the highest peak demand that was met was 212 GW (211,856 MW) on June 10. The summer of 2022 was marked by intense heat waves that pushed up the demand for electricity from industries as well as households and a coal shortage led to outages in several parts of the country.

To avoid a repeat this season, the power ministry has taken measures such as mandating all imported coal-based thermal plants to operate at full capacity. The ministry expects the peak demand to touch 230GW this summer and minister RK Singh said the country was prepared to meet the demand.

This week, however, a surge in demand is unlikely as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that many states will get relief from scorching heat due to a western disturbance that will keep temperatures low. For April 24, the IMD predicted rain and thunderstorm in several states.

Keeping a tab on power demand.

The story so far

On April 19, the peak power demand that was met was 214.92 GW (214,924 MW), while the peak shortage was 1,418 MW. While the numbers for April 18 are mentioned above, the demand that was met on April 17 was 211 GW (210,829 MW), while the peak shortage was 1,592 MW.

Through the week, the peak demand that was met continued to fall.

On April 20, the peak demand that was met fell to 211.8 GW (211804 MW) but the shortfall was only 55 MW. The next day, the demand met slipped to 205 GW (204,777 MW) and the shortage was 57 MW. On April 22, the peak demand met was 198.2 GW (198,272 MW) and the peak shortage rose to 884 MW. On April 23, the demand met came down to 184.4 GW (184,407 MW) but the shortage too narrowed to 34 MW.

The coal stocks situation is “manageable”, as of now, data accessed by Moneycontrol shows. Of the 165 domestic coal-based thermal power plants in the country, 31 had critical stocks. Last year at this time, the number of such plants was around 96.

Coal stock is said to be at a critical level when power plants have less than 25 percent of the normative 26 days of fuel with them.