Delhi:Power demand continues to surge, reaches new peak.

The peak power demand in the city continued its upward climb on Tuesday recording an all-time high of 7,409MW at 3.35pm beating Monday’s record high of 7,241MW. Discoms BRPL and BYPL successfully met the all-time high peak power demands of 3,159MW and 1,686MW, respectively, while Tata Power Delhi Distribution (Tata Power-DDL) was also able to supply a record 2,074MW.

Delhi’s average power demand is almost three times that of Kolkata (around 2,300MW) and double of Mumbai (3,700MW) and Chennai (3,400MW). Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in its load generation balance report 2017-18 stated that Delhi is consuming more electricity than Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and all states of the Northeast.

CEA’s latest report for May 2019 states that northern and western states had the highest demand with Uttar Pradesh sourcing 22,487MW, Delhi 6,461MW, Rajasthan 11,791MW, Gujarat 18,094MW and Maharashtra 23,621MW. Discom officials said that the cooling load is the main reason behind the increase in Delhi’s power demand. “Almost 50% of the power demand in summer is because of air-conditioners, coolers and fans. The BSES discoms have made adequate arrangements to meet the power demand of over 42 lakh consumers. These include long-term PPAs and banking arrangements with other states, including Himachal Pradesh, UP, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Manipur and Sikkim,” a BSES official said. “This summer, the peak demand is increasing every day. We expect it to touch 7,500MW.

The demand in Tata Power-DDL’s area may cross 2,250MW. However, we have made arrangements of 2,500MW power along with contingency planning through long-term tie-ups and electricity banking. We have upgraded the network to ensure regular supply in our area,” said Sanjay Banga, CEO, Tata Power-DDL. Meanwhile, power cuts were reported in various parts of the city, including Narela, Sant Nagar, Vasant Kunj, Uttam Nagar and Dwarka. “At times, discoms face challenges in unauthorised colonies and congested areas. The main reason for this is lack of space to augment the network, unauthorised AC load and power theft, which can cause tripping and local faults,” an official said. [Courtesy:The Times of India,PIc Courtesy: Indpaedia ]