Delhi's power demand may peak to 8,100 MW

New Delhi, March 15 -- Delhis peak power demand may cross the 8000 megawatt (MW)- reaching up to 8100 megawatt (MW ) - for the first time in late June or early July during this summer. Earlier, in 2021, Delhi's peak power demand had clocked 7323 MW, 6314 MW in 2020 and 7409 MW in 2020.

Delhi Power Minister Atishi reviewed the Delhi Governments "Summer Action Plan for uninterrupted power supply during the peak season on Tuesday. According to power discoms, peak power demand in BRPL area of South and West Delhi, which had clocked 3389 MW and 3118 MW during the summers of 2022 and 2021 respectively, is expected to reach around 3570 MW during the summers of 2023. On the other hand, in BYPL area of East and Central Delhi, the peak power demand, which had reached 1752 MW and 1656 MW during the summers of 2022 and 2021 respectively, is expected to touch around 1880 MW this year.

According to Bombay Suburban Electric Supply (BSES) officials, the discoms - BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) - are geared-up to source adequate electricity to meet the power demand of over two crore residents in the city.

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 upto 330 MW, BYPL upto 300 MW) of power through banking arrangements, officials said.

Additionally, BSES Rajdhani will also procure upto 500 MW through bilateral contract. In case of any unforeseeable contingency, BSES discoms will buy short-term power from the exchange, depending on the time-slot.

Adding to these efforts are the advanced load-forecasting statistical and modeling techniques, which use Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to help the discom accurately forecast the power demand. Interestingly, over 1500 megawatt will come from green energy which includes around 888 MW of solar power from Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), 486 MW of wind power, 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.

Delhis peak power demand had breached the 7000 MW for the first time - peaking at 7016 MW in 2018. This expected peak power demand of around 8100 MW is an increase of around 280% over the peak power demand of 2879 MW in 2002. In a related development, Delhi Power Minister Atishi reviewed the Delhi governments Summer Action Plan for uninterrupted power supply during the peak season on Tuesday. During the meeting, officials informed her that peak power demand may reach 8100 MW this year and they are well prepared to meet the increasing power demand in the coming summer.

The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Power department and three DISCOMs, where officials briefed the newly appointed Power Minister about their preparation for the upcoming summer season.

Reviewing the plan, Atishi said that it is the Delhi governments priority to ensure uninterrupted 24x7 power supply during the peak summer season to the people of Delhi.

The Delhi government is fully prepared to ensure that people get electricity without power cuts, even during the peak summer season. Like every year, we will follow the Zero Power Cut Policy this year too, she said.

Following the review, Atishi instructed the officials to tie up additional power with the power companies and ensure the maintenance and upgradation of power substations and power lines. This will help the government deal better during the peak load season and address the needs of people better. Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Pioneer. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at contentservices@htlive.com