PowerWatch | Power demand hit an all-time high on June 9; Record likely to be breached this week

PowerWatch

The country witnessed another record-high power demand on June 9 by meeting a peak demand of 223.23 gigawatts (GW), surpassing the previous high of 222.92 GW recorded on June 8. Power officials said the current record is also likely to be breached this week due to heatwave conditions in several parts of the country.

However, the power demand remained low during the weekend as offices remained shut. On June 10, the peak power demand was 219.3 GW and on June 11, the same was 206.6 GW.

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The demand that could not be met, also known as the peak demand deficit, stood at 189 megawatts (MW) on June 9. On June 10, the deficit stood at 603 MW and on June 11, it was 158 MW.

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.

Coal stocks continued to be manageable, as of now, data showed. Of the 165 domestic coal-based thermal power plants in the country, 32 had critical stocks as on June 11. Last year at this time, the number of such plants were 96-105. At least 34.5 million tonnes (MT) of coal are stocked at thermal power plants.

The share of renewable energy sources (wind, solar and hybrid) in the total energy generation on June 9, the day of the record-high power demand so far, was 14.53 percent. The share of RE along with hydropower, nuclear and others was 24.18 percent, data showed.

On the same day (June 9), the non-solar (nighttime) peak power demand also remained as high as 214.2 GW.

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The Power Ministry expects peak demand to reach 230 GW this summer, and Power Minister RK Singh stated that the country is prepared to meet this demand.