Mumbai continues to sizzle in the anticipation of the arrival of monsoon, with the power demand rising by the day. On Friday, the city’s power consumption broke all previous records at over 4 Giga Watt (GW).
Peak demand at 4,129 Mega Watt
To be precise, on Friday afternoon between 3.30pm and 3.45pm, the peak power demand in Mumbai was 4,129 Mega Watt (MW). This electricity demand data does not include a couple of hundred MWs of power supplied to Mulund, Bhandup, Nahur and Powai by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Corporation Limited (MSEDCL).
As per the data available, during these 15 minutes, Tata Power (Mumbai distribution) peak demand was 1,003 MW.
Of the overall supply during the peak power demand, Tata Power’s Thermal Power Plant at Trombay generated 724 MW. The balance was procured from other sources.
Peak demand increased by 5% compared to last year: Adani Electricity
“Our peak demand has increased by 5% in comparison to last year, reaching 2,161 MW. Our Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning based power forecasting model enables us to accurately predict and meet the demand at the most optimal power purchase cost,” said an Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited spokesperson.
Daily, the trend is that the power demand in Mumbai spikes between 2.30pm and 6pm. Industry observers state that the surge in demand is due to the use of cooling systems for more hours than usual and the demand may hover around similar levels. When the temperature is at a high, people feel the heat at least a couple of degrees more.
Such an increase in power demand triggers electricity distribution companies to draw load from the grid via signing short and medium term power purchase agreements. If they are unable to arrange for additional load, it triggers power cuts.
Previous peak power demand records
On Friday afternoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded a maximum temperature of 36.7 degrees Celsius at its Santacruz weather station and 36 degrees Celsius at Colaba; these levels are three and two degrees more than the normal temperature, respectively.
Prior to Friday, the highest ever power demand was 3,971 MW on June 1, excluding MSEDCL statistics. Similarly, on May 31, the power demand had surged at 3.30 pm at 3,968 MW.
The previous peak power demand was in May 2022 at 3,850 MW. In April this year, the demand had crossed 3,600 MW.
