Power demand higher than last year in most of January

NEW DELHI: As the city faced cold wave conditions in January, the demand for electricity also went up and on 23 days in the month, the peak power demand was higher than the corresponding days in January 2020.
On January 1, the peak power demand breached the 5,000 MW mark for the first time this season as the mercury plummeted to 1.1 degrees Celsius, the lowest till then. Delhi’s peak power demand in January 2021 was recorded at 5,265 MW on Sunday, which is slightly less than the peak power demand of 5,343 MW in January 2020. However, it surpassed the peak power demand of January 2020 on 23 corresponding days by up to 19%. For instance, while on Sunday (January 7), the peak power demand was 5,265 MW, it was 4,399 MW on January 7, 2020.
On December 1, 2020, Delhi’s peak power demand was 3,504 MW. Since then, the city’s peak power demand has increased by over 50%. Compared with the peak power demand on November 1, the city’s peak power demand has increased by 67%. This winter, Delhi’s peak power demand crossed 4,000 MW for the first time on December 16, 2020 apart from crossing 5,000 MW on January 1, 2021.
In the winter of 2019-2020, the power demand had peaked at 5,343 MW and the power discoms had expected the figure to reach 5,480 MW this winter as the peak power demand in Delhi during winter has been going up gradually. The peak power demand recorded in the winter of 2015-16 was 4,125 MW, which increased to 4,168 MW in the next winter and to 4,511 MW after that but dipped to 4,472 MW in the winter of 2018-19.