NEW DELHI: Peak power demand in the country dipped over 28% to 117.76 gigawatts (GW) on Saturday as compared to 163.72 GW on March 20, showing the impact of nationwide lockdown amid COVID-19 outbreak.
National Load Dispatch Centre data showed that in actual terms, the peak power demand met has come down by about 46 GW since March 20, which would further aggravate the ailing electricity generators whose outstanding dues stand Rs 88,311 crore as of January this year.
The peak demand met was down mainly due to lower demand from industry and state power distribution companies (discoms) across the country due to the lockdown to fight against COVID-19. According to the NLDC data, the peak demand met was 163.72 GW on March 20, which came down to 161.74 GW on March 21.
This dropped sharply to 135.20 GW on March 22 due a call for 'Janata Curfew' by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The data also showed that the peak demand met improved slightly to 145.49 GW on Monday but fell again to 135.93 GW on Tuesday and subsequently to 127.96 GW on Wednesday
