Amid the scorching heat in the national capital, Delhi’s power demand breached the record for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, officials said.
While on monday, the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) Delhi had declared that Delhi’s power demand reached May’s highest and was 7557 MW at 3.33 pm. New Delhi is struggling with intense heat and the temperature is consistent in breaching the mercury’s 40 degree celcius mark everyday.
There has been a surge in energy consumption in the ongoing heatwave as people are relying heavily on fans, air conditioners and coolers to beat the high temperatures.
While speaking to Hindustan Times, an official said, “The demand can be attributed to weather conditions that lead residents to use more air conditioning and cooling equipment, causing an increase in electricity consumption.”
“Air conditioning can contribute to 30-50 per cent of a domestic or commercial establishment,” he further said.
However, in a recent report by ANI, Discom officials revealed that Delhi’s power demand broke all its records on the afternoon of May 21. The capital city’s power demand reached an all-time high of 7717 MW and the intense summer heat is the reason behind it. As per the DISCOM officials, Delhi’s peak power demand is likely to cross 8000 MW.
It was June 29, 2022, that was the previous record holder with 7,695 MW power demand. While June is the hottest month on average in Delhi, reaching peak power demand “due to intense heat” is worrisome.
While Delhi is already struggling with a steady temperature rise on a daily basis, weather predictions by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) show no prospects of relief in the coming days too. IMD has predicted heat wave conditions in many parts of Delhi. For the next four days, IMD has also issued a red alert indicating extremely dangerous weather conditions with temperatures expected to reach exceptionally high.
This week, the maximum temperature will be in the range of 44 to 47 degrees Celsius as per the predictions by the weather department.
