CHENNAI: After a gap of two years, Tamil Nadu’s power demand touched 20,974 MW on Thursday, setting a new all-time record. The previous peak demand was 20,840 MW, recorded on May 2, 2024. Officials said the demand is expected to rise further in the coming days due to the upcoming assembly election, the scorching summer and the IPL season.
According to grid data from the Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation accessed by TNIE, the state’s power consumption also reached a record 460.301 Million Units (MU) on Thursday. The earlier high was 454.320 MU, recorded on April 30, 2024.
The state’s thermal power plants, with a total installed capacity of 5,120 MW, generated about 4,130 MW during the evening peak, which is around 81% of the total capacity. The total generation from these plants stood at 86.623 MU for the day.
A senior official from the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) said the peak demand of 20,974 MW was recorded around 6.50 pm on Thursday. “Compared to the 2019 peak demand of 16,151 MW, the state has seen an increase of 4,823 MW over the years,” the official said.
TNPDCL currently serves about 3.44 crore consumers across domestic, agricultural and commercial sectors. Around 8 lakh new service connections have been added to the grid in recent years, contributing to the steady rise in demand and consumption, the official added.
At present, coal-based thermal power and solar energy are playing a key role in meeting the growing demand.
The Southern Regional Power Committee has projected that the state’s demand could touch 23,000 MW this year. Officials said the current all-time high is still below this projection and another peak is likely by the end of April or in the first week of May.
Highlighting the situation in the capital, an official said Chennai’s all-time peak demand was 4,769 MW, recorded on May 31, 2024. So far this summer, the city’s demand has reached 4,345 MW on April 16, 2026. “We expect Chennai to set a new record soon due to rising temperatures and election-related activities,” the official said.
The contribution from central generating stations also remains significant. Of the total 460.301 MU consumed on Thursday, about 116.165 MU, or 25%, was supplied from Union government-run power plants, the official added.