Hyderabad:Telangana could be on its way to surpassing last year’s single day demand for electricity with the power utilities reporting that the state consumed 15,582 mega watts on February 4. This is just 41 MW less than the all-time single day high power consumption of 15,623 MW Telangana needed on March 8, 2024.
This year, the peak demand for power could hit 17,000 MW, which could happen in March given the extent of agriculture in the current Rabi season. An indication of this comes from the peak demand on January 31 which touched 15,205 MW compared to a high of 13,810 MW last January. In the GHMC area too, the demand rose from 3,018 MW last January to 3,334 MW this January.
Of the expected peak demand of 17,000 MW for which power utilities say they are geared up to meet, nearly a third — 5,000 MW — is expected to come from Hyderabad and the rest of the GHMC area. While the districts under the Southern Discom are expected to see a combined peak demand of 10,000 MW or so, the rest of the need for power is expected to come from the jurisdiction of Northern Discom.
These numbers might seem huge, which they are, but there is no cause for concern as the utilities are fully geared up to meet the demand, and every arrangement to ensure the demand for power is met, even if it exceeds the maximum expected demand are in place, Musharraf Faruqui, the chairman and managing director of TGSPDCL told Deccan Chronicle.
Telangana, in addition to producing its own power, has an installed capacity of 19,500 MW. But as not all of it is available at any one given point of time, the state has a ‘power banking’ arrangement with a few other states.
“Generally, when demand is low, generating stations back down their production but instead of doing so, our state has arrangements with other states as part of which they will continue their production and we get the power from them. Similarly, when demand in our state is low, and they need more power, we send it to them. This is kind of a barter system that works well for both sides,” Faruqui said.
There are also 15-minute calls on getting power with the State Load Dispatching Centre monitoring minute to minute demand and when a sudden surge in demand is noticed, then the state can purchase the required power from the power exchanges for short durations to tide over any possible supply crisis.
Infograph
Power demand - How February has fared so far
GHMC
Date – 2024 Max Demand* – 2025 Max Demand* – Growth %
Feb. 1 – 3013 – 3105 – 3.05
Feb. 2 – 3094 – 2781 - -10.12
Feb. 3 – 2914 – 3237 – 11.08
Feb. 4 – 2616 – 3320 – 26.91
State
Date – 2024 Max Demand* – 2025 Max Demand* – Growth %
Feb. 1 – 13958 – 14822 – 6.19
Feb. 2 – 14150 – 14826 – 4.78
Feb. 3 – 14042 – 15262 – 8.69
Feb. 4 – 13276 – 15582 – 17.37