Peak power demand in the country touched 1,97,060 mega-watt (MW) on Tuesday, an all-time high, Union power minister RK Singh tweeted. Peak demand reflects the highest power requirement level reached at a particular moment.
“Looking forward to the demand touching 2,00,000 MW in the near future,” Singh added. Higher power demand signals a spurt in commercial and industrial activities with businesses gradually resuming operations after the lifting of lockdown curbs in recent months.
The rise in demand is good news for gencos, as thermal plants were running at only 54% utilisation level in May owing to lower consumption. Daily supply had touched an all-time high of 4,303 million units (MUs) on June 29, surpassing the last recorded peak met at 4,161 MUs on April 8.
The installed power generation capacity of 3,83,373 MW in the country is nearly twice the peak demand level, implying that most power plants are running at the low PLF.
The PLF of thermal plants fell to 48% in May 2020. Power consumption rose 6.6% y-o-y to 108.8 BUs in May, but was still lower than 120 BUs consumed in May 2019 when there was no impact of the coronavirus.
