Power demand surges in Punjab, breaches 14,000-MW mark
Last year on the same day, the maximum power demand was 13,125 MW. PSPCL officials said the maximum power demand in the state is likely to touch 17,300 MW this year during the paddy season – which would start on June 1.
Following a rise in the maximum temperature, the power demand on Tuesday crossed 14,000 megawatts (MW) for the first time this year in Punjab. The maximum demand of 14,026 MW was at around 1 pm. After a low demand in the first half of May, the electricity demand in the state has been increasing rapidly for the last few days.
The maximum demand was 13,700 MW on Monday and 12,232 MW on Saturday. “Today all the four units in Ropar, three in Lehra Mohabbat and one unit in Goindwal are operating. One GVK unit is down due to annual maintenance and is likely to begin functioning on May 26. One unit of Lehra Mohabbat is down due to boiler leakage. The state’s own thermal generation was 1,560 MW, private thermal generation was around 2,980 MW and the solar power within the state was 300 MW,” said an official of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).
This year, the PSPCL has been supplying 1,949 lakh units (LU) because of cool weather during the first 10 days of May. However, the power supply has increased with a rise in the temperature over the past few days. Consequently, the PSPCL has been supplying around 2,550 LU daily.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has already issued a yellow alert for heatwave for the next two days as the maximum temperature remains 1-3 degrees above normal. The maximum temperature in Punjab has already touched 45° Celsius as Bathinda on Tuesday recorded a maximum temperature of 45.4° Celsius.
Last year on the same day, the maximum power demand was 13,125 MW. PSPCL officials said the maximum power demand in the state is likely to touch 17,300 MW this year during the paddy season – which would start on June 1.
During the peak demand, the withdrawl from the northern grid would be 10,500 MW while PSPCL’s own supply would be 6,500 MW. Currently, the state is drawing over 8,850 MW from the northern grid while its own generation is 5,150 MW.
As per the PSPCL officials, the coal stock at all the three-state run thermal plants of Lehra Mohabbat, Ropar and Goindwal has been for 26 days, 36 and 30 days, respectively. The private thermal plants of Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo have 27 and 16 days of stock.
