Delhi: Early winter sees uptick in power demand supply

NEW DELHI:  Plummeting temperatures in the city have seen the winter power demand surpassing that of the corresponding period last year, discom officials said. Delhi’s early winter is getting reflected in the city’s power demand. The peak power demand in November 2020 surpassed the peak power demand of November 2019, said a BSES discom official.

“Delhi’s peak power demand in November this year was 3,678 MW (November 20) as compared to last November’s peak power demand of 3631 MW (November 15). Also, it surpassed the power demand of November 2019 on 15 corresponding days,” he said.

In the first five days of December also, Delhi’s peak power demand has been more than the peak power demand of December 2019 on three corresponding days. A similar pattern was witnessed in October too, officials said. The October demand (4,820 MW) this year was more than 4605 MW in the same month last year. Besides, it was higher than 17 corresponding days in October last year, said the BSES official.

The peak power demand of the national capital in this winter can go up to 5,480 MW, surpassing last year’s winter demand. Last year, it had peaked at 5,343 MW, he said.      The peak winter power demand in BRPL and BYPL areas had reached 2020 MW and 1,165 MW respectively during last winter. This year, it is expected to reach 2200 MW and 1,270 MW for BRPL and BYPL respectively, he said.

“Reliable supply in any season depends on proper power arrangements, accurate demand forecast and robust distribution network. On all these aspects, BSES discoms are fully geared to ensure adequate power availability during the winter months,” said the BSES official.

The arrangements include long-term agreements from power-plants. Additionally, BSES is also receiving more than 190 MW of wind power, 25 MW from waste-to energy and 70 MW of solar power from SECI.