PowerWatch | Sporadic rains bring down India's power demand to 191 GW

PowerWatch

The country witnessed peak power demand of 190.9 gigawatts (GW) on May 28, 194.7 GW on May 27 and 196.3 GW on May 26. The demand, which could not be met on these days, or the peak demand deficit, stood at 455 megawatts (MW), 679 MW and 171 MW, respectively.

The drop in the power demand was because of sporadic rains, which lashed several parts of the country. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall along with thunderstorms over northwest India till May 31 with peak activity on May 29 and May 30 due to a fresh approaching western disturbance tonight.

On May 25, India met a peak power demand of 204.5 GW, down from 210.9 GW that was met a day before on May 24.

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, 33 had critical stocks as on May 25. Last year at this time, the number of such plants was around 96. About 33 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.