Delhi's peak power demand reaches season's highest, 56% more than April

Delhi witnessed a peak power demand that reached as much as 5268 MW on the night of May 24.

Delhi witnessed a peak power demand that reached as much as 5268 MW on the night of May 24. The demand was the highest in the season so far and significantly higher than the peak power demand of 5094 MW that was recorded last year on the same day.

Comparing it with last month's 3362 MW, Delhi’s peak power demand increased by over 56%.

The surge was is attributed mostly to the heatwaves in north India that have taken the mercury to 45 degrees Celsius in most parts of the capital.

BSES discoms BRPL and BYPL successfully managed to meet the demand of 2448 MW and 1227 MW respectively.

BRPL and BYPL successfully met the peak power demand of 2448 MW and 1227 MW respectively.

In its official statement on May 25, BSES said that the accurate demand (load) forecasting is critical for reliable power supply. It is done on various parameters like (i) Day-ahead in 96 time-slots, (ii) Intra-day basis and (iii) Medium term (from a fortnight to one year).

Among other aspects, weather parameters like temperature, rainfall, cloud coverage, wind speed, wind direction and humidity play an important role in accurate demand forecast. Even holidays and random disturbances have an impact on power demand.

"To meet today’s power challenges and to get a grip on so many varied and dynamic variables, BSES uses a mix of advanced statistical forecasting models, combined with state-of-the-art weather forecasting solutions, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning," the statement said.

BSES further added that ensuring reliable supply in any season is as much the function of proper power arrangements as also accurate demand forecast and robust distribution network. On all these aspects, BSES discoms are fully geared to ensure adequate power availability during the winter months, the company said.

"Arrangements have been firmed up by BSES discoms to source adequate electricity to meet the power demand of over 44 lakhs consumers. These arrangements include long term PPAs and banking arrangements with other states. In case of unforeseen contingencies because of low generation and outages in power plants, the discoms will purchase short-term power from the exchange," it added.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that it's not the end of the summer spell for Northern India as a scorching heatwave is likely to keep temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius here for the next few days, till May 29.