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With the monsoon playing truant and Delhiites braving scorching heat, power demand in the National Capital on Thursday breached another record, touching a new high of 5,642 MW.
“The demand of power in Delhi has broken all the previous records. The maximum demand on Thursday was recorded 5,642 MW at 3:10 pm. The demand was successfully met,” a Delhi Government statement said.
Electricity demand had risen to 5,454 MW, the previous all-time high, on July 2. This summer has seen power demand rising to new highs almost every week in the city.
Power Department officials said it was expected that the maximum demand this year would be around 5,500 MW. “If the weather continues to be so hot and humid, the power demand may further go up,” they warned.
The minimum demand was 3,655 MW at 7:07 a.m. and the difference between the maximum and minimum demand was 1,987 MW.
The highest demand was more than 50 per cent of the lowest demand.
Rapid increase
During the last decade the demand of power has increased very rapidly. The demand of power in July 2002 was 3,097 MW while last year, the highest demand recorded was 5,028 MW on August 2.
Total demand in Delhi in 24 hours from midnight of July 3 till midnight July 4 was 103.971 million units, out of which 103.108 million units was successfully met.
Officials said 0.670 million units were shed due to transmission and distribution constraints and 0.193 million units were shed to restrict overdrawal at low frequency.
The official statement said the purchasing power of general public has increased and they are buying more gadgets operated on electricity.
“This is one of the major factors of rising electricity consumption. The demand of power over the years has shown significant growth, which is also a clear indication of prosperity,” it said.
The power demand in the city has been increasing at a rate of around 8 per cent in the last few years and according to projection of the Government, it was expected to cross 5,500 MW this summer.
According to official figures, the demand in 1905 was just two MW which had increased to 27 MW in 1947. The peak demand had touched 1,536 MW in 1992 while in 1997 it increased to 2,303 MW and further to 2,879 MW in 2001.
In 2002, the power demand had gone up to 3,097 MW while in 2007, it touched 4,030 MW. While the demand went up to 4,408 MW in 2009, it touched 4,720 MW in 2010.
Last year, the demand had gone up to 5,028 MW, which was the all-time high till it was breached when it touched 5,032 MW on May 25.
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