NEW DELHI: Delhi clocked a peak power demand of 5,735 Megawatts (MW) on Tuesday. It was the hottest day of the season. And, the power demand was the highest ever recorded in April. There was no respite, as heat wave conditions prevailed across the city for the second consecutive day.
According to officials in power discoms, at 3.30 pm on Tuesday, Delhi’s peak power demand touched 5,735 MW, the highest ever recorded in the month of April. Previously, the highest Delhi had clocked in this month was 5,664 MW on April 30, 2019.
“The unabated heat wave in Delhi has continued to push the power demand to newer heights. This is an increase of over 28% from April 1 this year, when the city’s peak power demand had reached 4,469 MW. On Monday, the peak demand was 5,641 MW,” said an official.
Delhi has had a total of seven heat wave days this April, of which five were in a row, the highest since 2010. “Since April 1, 2022, Delhi’s peak power demand has crossed 5,000 MW on nine days till April 19. As compared to this, Delhi’s peak power demand in April had not crossed 5,000 MW even once in 2021 and 2020. During April 2019, it had crossed the 5,000 mark in seven days,” the official said.
The peak power demand in April 2021 was 4,372 MW on April 16. In 2020, it was 3,362 MW. Officials think that after 7,323 MW in 2021, Delhi’s peak power demand during the summers this year may cross the 8,000 MW mark for the first time. “This is more than the all-time peak power demand of 7,409 MW recorded in 2019,” said an official.