Power demand in September crosses pre-Covid mark

NEW DELHI:  After the pandemic brought industrial power demand crashing down in late-March and April, the gradual resumption of economic activity has seen consumption rising steadily. On September 9, peak power demand metrics, according to data from POSOCO’s national load despatch center, crossed the level set the previous year for the first time since the crash in April. 

Peak power demand is defined at the largest amount of power supplied at any point during the day or 
period. During August, this figure had stood at 167.49 GW compared to 177.52 GW during the same month the previous year. 

July peak power demand fell to 170.54 GW from 175.12 GW last year, while in June the decline had been to 164.98 GW from 182.45 GW.  In May, peak power demand met stood at 166.22 GW, 8.9 per cent less than 182.53 GW in the year-ago period. April had seen the worst fall due to the near-total lockdown, going from 176.81 GW to 132.73 GW, a decline of around 25 per cent. The nationwide lockdown resulted in poor demand April onwards.