Power demand may top 8k MW this year

Last year (2021), Delhi’s clocked a peak power demand of 7,323 MW. The highest peak demand ever met in Delhi was in 2019 when it 7,409 MW on July 2.

Delhi’s peak power demand this summer is likely to cross the 8,000 megawatt (MW)-mark, electricity distribution companies (discoms) said on Monday.

On Monday, Delhi recorded the peak power demand of 4,095 MW, the discoms said.

“Delhi’s peak power demand breached the 7,000-MW for the first time – peaking at 7016 MW -- in 2018. This year, the expected peak power demand is likely to touch 8,200 MW, which will be an increase of around 285% over the peak power demand of 2,879 MW two decades ago in 2002. If the power demand this summer actually peaks as per our projections, then it will be the first time that Delhi’s demand will hit the 8,000 MW-mark,” said a senior power department official who asked not to be named.

Last year (2021), Delhi’s clocked a peak power demand of 7,323 MW. The highest peak demand ever met in Delhi was in 2019 when it 7,409 MW on July 2. During the summers of 2020, the city logged a peak demand of 6,314 MW.

On Monday, Delhi recorded the peak power demand of 4,095 MW, the discoms said.

According to the area-wise summer projection for this year, the discoms said peak electricity consumption in south and west Delhi is likely to hit 3,500 MW. The demand in these two areas was recorded at 3,118 MW and 2,815 MW during the summer of 2021 and 2020 respectively. BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) supplies power to south and west Delhi.

In North Delhi, where electricity is supplied to a population of 7 million by discom Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata Power-DDL), the estimated peak electricity demand is likely to be about 2,350 MW this summer. The discom said it has made an arrangement of supplying up to 2500 MW.

In east and central Delhi where BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) distributes electricity, the peak power demand is expected to be around 1,800 MW this year. It was 1,656 MW and 1,439 MW during 2021 and 2020 respectively, the discoms said.

Ganesh Srinivasan, CEO, Tata Power-DDL said the discom is fully prepared to provide uninterrupted power supply to essential service providers to power the collective fight against Covid-19. “According to the IMD forecast, Delhi is likely to face a hotter summer this year. To meet the spurt in demand and to ensure uninterrupted power supply, we have done long-term power banking tie-ups aggregating to around 2,500 MW. Additionally, we are also in the process of tying up further banking and bilateral contracts to take care of any contingencies,” he said.

A BSES spokesperson said green power will play an important role in ensuring reliable supply during the summer in areas under BRPL and BYPL. “This includes around 600 MW of solar power from Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited(SECI), 300 MW of wind power, 31 MW from waste-to-energy plant. Apart from this, additional 210 MW of solar power from SECI and 150 MW of wind power is expected to be available in the later part of the ensuing summers. BSES efforts in ensuring reliable power are also being helped by 126MW+ of roof-top solar installed by residents in south, west, east and central Delhi,” he said.

“Adding to these efforts are the advanced load-forecasting statistical and modelling techniques, which use artificial intelligence to help the discom accurately forecast the power demand,” he said.