Rains ease peak power demand in September

New Delhi: Rainfall in many parts of the country in recent days led to peak power demand easing from the elevated levels recorded during most of September, bringing some relief to the pressure on the grid.

Peak power demand fell to 218.8 GW on Sunday from 222.6 GW on Friday and 224.7 GW on Saturday. Monday again saw a rise in peak demand met to 236.34 GW, still below the peak of 240-269 GW recorded between September 1 and September 23.

Wind power generation gained momentum after dipping September 11 onwards, to 603 million units on September 26.


For this week, the India Meteorological Department has forecast scattered to heavy rainfall in several areas in the South. The northwestern and central India, parts of which received heavy showers in recent days, may see a drop in rain activity.

Power consumption in India grew more than 14% so far in September, driven by cooling and irrigation as monsoon rainfall has been below normal.

Coal stocks at power plants saw a sharp depletion as rains in coal-bearing regions affected transportation of the dry fuel.

Coal stocks at power plants that use domestically produced coal totalled 19.2 mt on Sunday. At plants that use imported coal, the stock was 2.55 mt. These are enough to last only around eight-nine days.

Of the 190 coal-based power plants, around 80 have critical fuel levels. This means their coal stock is less than 25% of the normative stock, which is the target quantity that thermal power plants must keep onsite to ensure uninterrupted electricity generation.