The National capital saw an unprecedented power demand last week – a whooping 6188 MW. Known for fluctuating weather and power demand, Delhi witnessed its peak demand increasing by over 8 per cent in just 48 hours (from 5733MW on May 18 to 6188 MW on May 20). Subsequent to that, on May 23, when temperature dipped due to storm and rain, power demand fell to 5740 MW.
Business Standard puts the Delhi’s power position through different prism of perspectives.
To start with, Delhi has the highest power load among the large cities and metro towns.
Demand break-up
The three power distribution companies (Discoms) in Delhi are – Reliance Infra promoted BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, BSES Yamuna Power Limited and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL).
BRPL supplies power to 14 lakh customers are spread over densely populated Central and East Delhi areas. BRPL distributes power to over 21 lakh customers spread across South and West Delhi. Tata Power supplies power in North and North west Delhi to around 70 lakh customers.
Sourcing of power
Delhi discoms source close to 85 percent of the demand through long term agreements, mostly with NTPC generating stations. Any increase in demand or change is supply schedule is met through short term power agreements or spot power market and power banking. Power banking is mostly done with north east states and hydro power units wherein in lean hydro period; power is given to them and vice-versa during monsoon.
Outages and grid stability
Last week, several areas in Delhi witnessed outages. Discoms said this was due to distribution and transmission constraints. The reasons cited by executives of discoms ranged from usual technical issues to power theft which still hurts supply in many areas
