New Delhi: With heatwave conditions continuing unabated in the Capital, the peak power demand in Delhi rose to 6,194 MW on Monday, the highest ever for the first week of May, officials said.
The peak demand of the city was 6,194 MW at 3.34 pm on Monday, as per the real-time data from the State Load Dispatch Centre, Delhi.
A day before, it was 6,048 MW.
"At 6,194 MW, the peak demand of Delhi was highest ever in the first week of May. The previous highest in the May first week was recorded at 5,808 MW on May 2, 2019," said discom officials.
On Monday, the Capital recorded a maximum temperature of 40.8 degrees Celsius — a few notches below last week's relentless heat spell but still a couple of notches above the normal for the given time period. While the Delhi government has cautioned residents and warned the Centre to act quickly claiming a looming power crisis in light of a country-wide coal shortage, the Union government has denied these claims and insisted that the Delhi government is relying on incorrect data and "misleadin" residents.
In view of summer and high demand, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission last week relaxed several provisions concerning short-term power purchase to enable discoms in the capital to procure the available power without any loss of time.
The three discoms in Delhi - TPDDL, BRPL (BSES Rajdhani Power Limited) and BYPL (BSES Yamuna Power Limited) — have anticipated a substantial hike in power demand in their areas of supply this summer.
Meanwhile, the weather office has predicted temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius at least till May 6, while also acknowledging that the city may see a dust storm late on Monday night with winds gusting up to 50 kmph due to a western disturbance affecting northwest India.
"No heatwave is likely in the city for at least two to three days," an official said.