PowerWatch |India's peak power demand reaches 201.7 GW, coal stocks manageable

PowerWatch

India met a peak power demand of 201.7 gigawatts (GW) on May 31, up from 196.23 GW that was met a day before on May 30. The decline in demand can be attributed to sporadic rains in several parts of the country, officials said.

The peak demand deficit, which refers to the shortfall in meeting the demand, stood at 238 megawatts (MW) on May 31 against 480 MW on May 30.

On May 23, India met the highest-ever peak demand of 221.34 GW. The demand on May 23 exceeded the previous high of 221.07 GW, which was met on May 17 when large parts of the country were experiencing heatwave conditions.

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

The coal stocks' situation continues to be “manageable”, as of now, data showed. Of the 165 domestic coal-based thermal power plants in the country, 31 had critical stocks as on May 29. Last year at this time, the number of such plants was 96. About 35 million tonnes (MT) of coal are stocked at thermal power plants.

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.

The share of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hybrid in the total energy generation on May 31 was 11.14 percent. The share of renewable energy along with hydropower, nuclear and others was 22.41 percent, according to data.