New Delhi: India’s peak power demand jumped to an all-time high of 256 GW on Saturday as intense heat waves in the northwest and central regions increased the use of cooling equipment, pushing electricity consumption to record levels.
On Friday, peak demand rose to 252 GW, surpassing the previous peak of 251 GW recorded in May 2024, according to data from Grid Controller of India Ltd, the national grid operator. A fresh high of 256.11 GW was reached at 15:38 on Saturday.
The peak demand levels achieved so far are unusually high for the period. Such high electricity demand is usually observed during May to June. This year, the early onset of summer led to a sudden jump in demand.
Mint had earlier reported that India’s early and intense summer is already pushing electricity demand to the highest levels seen during last year’s peak summer, posing a challenge to the country’s power system for the coming weeks.
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The peak demand achieved so far is much higher than Grid India’s projection for the week ending April 26. According to Grid India’s weekly forecast, the maximum for the period was 20-26. April 239.5 GW.
Demand is likely to remain elevated as heat waves are expected to continue in the north and northwest. The highest temperatures on Saturday were in the range of 40-45 degrees Celsius in most parts of the country. The highest maximum temperature of 47.4 degrees Celsius was reported at Banda in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
Alok Kumar, CEO of the All India Discoms Association, said power distribution companies (discoms) must prepare for rising demand by maintaining adequate reserves, back-up systems and transmission infrastructure to enable purchase of power from other states if needed.
“A country-level peak is a phenomenon that will occur only for a few days in a year. It will not occur simultaneously for all discoms. However, discoms must ensure that their grids have enough reserve to meet the demand. There should be adequate transmission capacity through the GNA to import from other states if required. There should also be sufficient reserves and discoms should have their own secret power adequacy plans,” said Kumar, a former union power planner. adequacy.
General Network Access (GNA) in the energy sector is a regulatory mechanism that allows power producers and distributors to access the national transmission system without a specific point-to-point contract.
Growth in India’s energy consumption has historically been tied to weather, with summer heat being the biggest driver. According to India’s power sector planning body, the Central Electricity Authority, peak demand may reach a record 271 GW in FY27.
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“Demand is currently largely fueled by cooling demand. Temperatures are about 2-2.5 degrees higher than the same period last year. Coal, solar and hydro are currently helping meet demand,” said Alekhya Datta, director of the electricity and renewables division, The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri). However, the fact that most of the gas capacity is not in operation may lead to more load on coal capacity in non-solar hours, unless flexibility is planned in hydro and BESS projects are accelerated, he added.
According to the Department of Energy, about 8 GW of gas-based power capacity is idle due to war-induced supply shortages in West Asia.
The latest forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows that heatwave conditions are likely to persist in isolated to scattered pockets of northwest and central India for the next three days before fading away.
The IMD said on Sunday that the heat waves are on 26-27 April also very likely in some areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Bihar and Gujarat. Similar conditions are expected over East Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh during 26-28. April. Warm night conditions are also expected over isolated areas of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, West Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh during 26-29. April.
In addition to cooling demand, the Department of Energy expects the shift of several gas cooking users to electric stoves will add up to 27 GW to electricity demand this year.
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On April 10, Krushna Chandra Panigrahy, director general of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), told reporters that the shift towards induction cooking had already begun and would create “another layer of demand” during the morning and evening peaks.
While usage patterns vary across India due to different “climatic zones, socio-economic conditions and cooking habits”, the impact will be most visible at the distribution level. Panigrahy estimated that depending on how widely the technology is adopted, “additional demand would be in the range of 13-27 GW using low and high inductance cooking”. He added that BEE and the Ministry of Power are studying the demand scenario and proactively working to meet it.
Further, to ensure uninterrupted power supply, about 10 GW of thermal power plant capacity has postponed its maintenance programs this summer, Piyush Singh, additional secretary in the power ministry, told reporters on April 10.
The ministry also plans to accelerate the addition of power generation capacity and commission a total of 22 GW, including thermal, solar, hydro, battery and pumped storage. India currently has over 531 GW of installed capacity, reflecting a diversified portfolio with significant contributions from coal, solar and hydro. Non-fossil sources account for more than 50% of India’s installed electricity capacity.
