The peak power demand in the national capital hit its highest for the summer season so far touching 5,029 megawatt (5.03 gigawatt) on Tuesday, as per data from the State Load Dispatch Center.
The peak load in Delhi is projected to reach 9,000 MW in late June or early July amid forecasts of above normal temperatures and heatwaves.
The city witnessed the first heatwave this summer season on Monday, with the maximum temperature touching 40.2 degrees Celsius.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that heatwave conditions are likely to prevail in Delhi until April 9. “From April 10 onwards, a drop in temperature is expected over Northwest India, including Delhi,” IMD said.
“Tata Power-DDL successfully met the summer peak demand of 1,585 MW today (on Tuesday)—the highest recorded so far this season, ensuring uninterrupted power supply across its network.
“The company’s robust power arrangements, including long-term tie-ups and the strategic deployment of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at Rohini, played a key role in maintaining a reliable and resilient supply amid soaring temperatures,” spokesperson of Tata Power – Delhi Distribution said.
The company said that its network has been strategically designed and is being continuously optimised to meet the expected peak demand of 2,562 MW for summer 2025. “To ensure reliability, long-term power purchase agreements and banking arrangements are in place, securing power supply of up to 2,850 MW,” it had said. Last year, during summer the power demand peaked at 2,481 MW in Tata Power-DDL’s area of operation.
As a standard practice, Tata Power-DDL typically conducts maintenance and network upgradation work between October and March, but this year due to GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) restrictions in the month of November and December 2024, the firm’s scheduled maintenance and network upgradation outage plan was amplified in March 2025.
On March 11, peak demand across the country reached 235 GW, surpassing the maximum peak demand of 222 GW recorded in March 2024. Despite the increase in power demand, the average market clearing price in the day ahead market during March 2025 was Rs 4.47/unit due to increased supply. Going ahead the government expects peak demand to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 7% and has projected the country’s peak power demand to cross 270 GW this year.
Given the increase in demand last year, the power ministry took various measures throughout the year to enhance power supply, including extending the directive for imported coal-based power plants to operate at full capacity, sale of surplus power on power exchanges, ensuring the availability of gas-based plants, and higher availability of generating units to meet peak demand.