City's peak power demand clocks 3,971 MW

India, June 2 -- The sweltering heat and humidity continued to drive Mumbaikars to consume more electricity for a second consecutive day. The city recorded an all-time high demand of 3,971 MW on Thursday.

On May 31, the power demand was at 3,968 MW. On both days, the demand for electricity surged at 3.30pm. With a power demand of around 27,000 MW, the state has purchased an average of 300-400 MW from March to May.

As temperatures soared, the city continued to consume more electricity, mainly due to air conditioners. Despite the rise in load, power distribution companies said that there were no power cuts.

According to a Tata Power spokesperson, the peak demand stood at 3,971 MW from around 3.30pm for around 15 minutes. "Later, it dropped and the hourly peak demand touched 3,951 MW at 4pm," the spokesperson added.

Even on Wednesday, the demand peaked at 3,968 MW that stayed for around 10-15 minutes after which it started dropping. The power companies claimed that since May 29, the demand for power in the city has been steadily increasing.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) stated that to meet the additional demand for electricity during summer, they purchased and supplied 1,340 million units in March, April and May. The MSEDCL officials said that they ensured that there is no financial burden on the consumers. In March and April, the state had an average demand of 24,983 MW and 24,326 MW, respectively. While in May the average demand dropped to 24,047 MW.

"To meet the additional demand in the months of March, April and May, we entered into short-term contracts for 300 MW, 400 MW and 400 MW, respectively," an MSEDCL official said. The state power distributor also utilised 1,900 MW hydroelectricity generated by Koyna dam.

MSEDCL supplies electricity to 2.84 crore consumers across the state, while in Mumbai, Adani supplies power to more than 26 lakh consumers, mainly in the suburbs, Tata Power has a base of 7 lakh-odd consumers, while BEST supplies to 10.50 lakh consumers in the island city. Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Hindustan Times. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at contentservices@htlive.com