India’s Peak Power Demand Smashes 2023 Peak, Touches 250 GW

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The Indian power sector met a record maximum power demand of 250 GW on 30th May’24 whereas, the non-solar demand touched an all-time high of 234.3 GW on 29th May

This spike in power demand reflects the combined impact of weather-related loads and growing industrial and residential power consumption in these areas. On 30th May, the Northern region also achieved a record demand met, reaching an all-time high of 86.7 GW, while the Western region also touched its maximum demand met of 74.8 GW.

Additionally, all-India thermal generation hit an all-time high, achieving a peak of 176 GW (ex-bus), especially during non-solar hours. A key contributor to this has been the strategic implementation of Section 11, which facilitated the maximization of generation from imported coal-based plants as well as gas-based plants. This surge further underscores the significant capacity and operational efficiency of India’s thermal power plants, which continue to be the backbone of the nation’s energy mix. Readers will note that the government had projected peak power demand of 

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Support from renewable energy sources especially solar during solar hours and wind during non-solar hours is also very significant in meeting the demand. These achievements are a testament to the coordinated efforts of various stakeholders in the power sector, including government agencies, power generation companies, and grid operators. Their commitment to enhancing generation capacity, optimizing resource allocation, and implementing policies has been instrumental in meeting the country’s energy needs.

For the renewable industry, the role of wind energy will also come to the forefront in the next three months, as it steps up even as solar possibly drops off a little.  But at the very least by this time next year, one hopes that the share of renewables during solar hours will grow significantly.