The Power Hungry City (Representational Image)
With the capital witnessing the hottest days of the season so far, Delhi government officials Monday successfully scrambled to make preparations for the resultant surge in demand for power — something they had forecast would happen earlier.
At 3.06 pm on Monday, Delhi recorded an all-time high power demand of 6,361 megawatt (MW). The power demand on Monday was 12 per cent more than the peak power demand of 5,673 MW recorded on the same day last year. The 6,000 MW-mark was breached for the first time on May 19 last year and the demand had touched 6,261 MW on June 30, 2016.
A Delhi government official said, “We realised yesterday (Sunday) that there was going to be a surge in power demand. Hence, we had arranged for supply of nearly 6,600 MW of power. The demand is unlikely to go beyond this mark.” He added that power utilities were prepared to take maximum load “without considerable load-shedding”.
A BSES official said: “Arrangements have been firmed up by BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) to source adequate power to meet the peak power demand of its over 38.8 lakh consumers during the ensuing summer months. The arrangements include long-term PPAs and banking arrangements with other states.”
The official added that Delhi’s peak power demand “during the summer of 2017 is expected to touch around 6,500-6,600 MW. Last summer, it had touched 6,261 MW — the highest ever recorded in the national capital”. In south and west Delhi, the power demand — “which had reached 2,669 MW during the summer of 2016 — is expected to touch around 2,800 MW this year”.
In east and central Delhi, “the peak power had reached 1,493 MW last year… and is expected to touch around 1,600 MW this year,” he added.
