WARSAW: Polish electricity demand set a new record for a summer morning at 23.72 gigawatts (GW) on Tuesday, grid operator PSE said on Wednesday, adding there was enough reserve capacity to meet increased consumption driven by a heatwave in recent days.Poland, which generates electricity mostly from coal-fuelled power stations, faces the risk of power shortages when temperatures reach extreme levels as increased demand for air conditioning and other uses can overload the system.
The previous record for a summer morning was set on Aug. 2 2018 when demand was 38 megawatts lower than Tuesday's level. The power consumption record was set on Jan. 25 this year when it reached 26.5 GW. Demand for power is higher in winter.
Poland has experienced a heatwave in the past few days and forecasters say high temperatures will continue in coming days.
In summer 2015, PSE imposed power consumption restrictions after a heatwave forced it to cut supplies to industry.
(Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko Editing by Edmund Blair)