India met a peak power demand of 214.6 gigawatts (GW) on June 20, which is almost similar to the demand of 213.6 GW that was met a day before on June 19.
The demand, which could not be met on June 20, or the peak demand deficit, stood at 89 megawatts (MW).
The power demand has remained low because of monsoon and pre-monsoon showers, which lashed several parts of the country. Delayed by 10 days due to cyclone Biparjoy, the southwest monsoon is likely to progress further and hit Mumbai during June 23-25, the India Meteorological Department said on June 21.
On June 9, the country witnessed a record-high power demand of 223.23 GW, surpassing the previous high of 222.92 GW recorded on June 8.
In 2022, the highest peak demand met was 212 GW on June 10.
Coal stocks continued 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 June 20. Last year, at this time, there were 96-105 such plants. At least 33.9 million tonnes (MT) of coal are stocked at thermal power plants.
Keeping in mind the sustained growth in power demand, the government on June 12 also extended its direction to imported coal-based plants to mandatorily operate and generate power till September 30 this year. This direction was issued under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003. Prior to the June 12 extension, the mandate was to be valid till June 15.
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