Delhi's peak power demand may touch record high of 5,500 MW

NEW DELHI: The national capital’s peak power demand this winter could go up to a record 5,500 MW, which would be the highest ever for the season, according to State Load Despatch Centre data.
The power demand peaked at 5,104 MW last year and 5,021 MW in 2020, said a discom official. In 2019-2020, it had touched 5,343 MW, which was the highest ever in the city’s history during the winter, he said.
Discom officials said the increasing power demand points to a rise in the use of room heaters and geysers in homes as soon as there is a dip in temperature.
The power demand reached 4,110 MW on Tuesday, the highest this winter season. It is likely to rise in the coming days as the mercury is set to dip further over the next six days. The minimum temperature early Tuesday was 6.3 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal. It is set to drop to around 5 degrees by December 23, according to IMD. The maximum temperature, which was 23.2 degrees Celsius on Monday, is also likely to fall to around 20 degrees by December 25.
Discoms provide power to about 58 lakh consumers, roughly estimated at nearly 2 crore residents.
The peak power demand is expected to reach 2,289 MW for BRPL and 1,159 MW for BYPL. A BSES official said discoms are geared to ensure adequate power availability for its consumers during the winter. BSES discoms will also bank surplus power with other states that need additional power during the season, which would be available during the summer. While BRPL will bank up to 415 MW with states like Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, BYPL is expected to bank up to 300 MW with Meghalaya, Maharashtra, TN and Kerala.
BSES has long-term agreements with power plants, including hydro- and Delhi-based gas-fuelled generating stations, for the winter. Additionally, it receives 840 MW of solar power from Solar Energy Corporation of India, 439 MW of wind power and 25 MW from waste-to-energy plants. It is also helped by over 127 MW of solar power installed on rooftops in south, west, east and central Delhi. In case of a contingency, BSES discoms will buy short-term power from the exchange, which is available at economical rates.
Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited, which also supplies electricity in parts of Delhi, said, “We successfully met the peak power demand of 1,385 MW Tuesday morning without any network constraint or outage.”