Power demand reaches all-time high in India

Power demand in the country touched an all-time high and crossed the 200 GW mark on Wednesday amid many States witnessing high temperatures due to delayed monsoon, and easing of coronavirus-related restrictions.

According to the latest power ministry data, peak power demand or the highest supply in a day touched an all time high of 200.57 GW on Wednesday. On Tuesday, power demand was at a record high of 197.07 GW. Experts opined that high temperatures in many States due to delayed monsoon and easing of restrictions that were in place to curb coronavirus infections have led to a surge in power demand these days.

Last month, peak power demand met or the highest supply in a day witnessed a growth of over 16 per cent at 191.51 GW (recorded on June 30) compared to 164.98 GW recorded in June 2020. The peak power demand was 182.45 GW in June 2019. As per the ministry's data, peak power demand had touched an all-time high of 192.16 GW on July 5, 2021. Then, the figure had surpassed the peak power demand of 191.51 GW recorded on June 30. "Today, All India peak demand met touched the all time highest level of 197060 MW at 11:43 hrs. Looking forward to the demand touching 200000 MW in the near future," Power Minister R K Singh had said in a tweet on Tuesday.

In January, Singh had tweeted that the power demand and supply surged to a new high of 1,88,452 MW at 9:42 am on January 28. "The rate at which we are going, we shall cross 2,00,000 MW very soon".