Delhi’s peak power demand crosses 7000 MW, highest this season

New Delhi [India], June 13 (ANI): With the mercury rising, the power demand in Delhi surpassed the 7000 MW mark on Tuesday and clocked 7098 MW at 3:29 pm.

IN BRPL (BSES Rajdhani Power Limited) and BYPL (BSES Yamuna Power Limited) area, the peak power demand today clocked 3103 MW and 1615 MW respectively and was met successfully.

BSES officials said that their discoms are geared-up to ensure reliable power supply to meet the power demand of about two crore residents in South, West, East and Central Delhi. These arrangements include long-term PPAs and banking arrangements with other states including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

BSES discoms will get up to 630 MW (BRPL up to 330 MW, BYPL up to 300 MW) of power through banking arrangements, they said.

According to the data provided by the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC), the power demand touched 7098 MW at 3:29 pm.

This month Delhi’s peak power demand has seen huge variations. It has increased from 4390 MW on June 1 to today’s high, an increase of 2708 MW or 61 per cent.

Last year in June, there were nine such occasions when Delhi’s power demand exceeded 7000 MW, with June 29 setting an all-time high record of 7695 MW. Additionally, June 2022 saw the power demand crossing the 6000 MW mark on 11 occasions and the 5000 MW mark on eight occasions.

In 2018, the peak power demand breached the 7000 MW mark for the first time, reaching a peak of 7016 MW. The expected peak power demand of around 8100 MW in the present year represents an increase of approximately 280 per cent compared to the peak power demand of 2879 MW recorded in 2002.

BSES officials said green power will play an important role in ensuring reliable power during the summer months in the BSES area.

They said this includes around 888 MW of solar power from SECI, 486 MW of wind power, and 40 MW from waste-to-energy. BSES efforts in ensuring reliable power are also being helped by 130 MW+ of roof-top solar installed on roof-tops in South, West, East and Central Delhi, they said.

BRPL will also procure up to 500 MW through bilateral contracts, the officials said. They said in case of any unforeseeable contingency, BSES will buy short-term power from the exchange, depending on the time slot. There is also use of advanced load-forecasting statistical and modelling techniques, which use Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to help the discom accurately forecast the power demand, they added.