"The demand of power in Delhi has broken all the previous records. The maximum demand today was recorded 5642 MW at 3:10 pm. The demand was successfully met," a Delhi government statement said.
Electricity demand had risen to 5,454 MW, the previous all-time high, on July two. This summer has seen power demand in the city rising to new highs almost every week.
Power Department officials said it was expected that the maximum demand this year would be around 5,500 MW. "If the weather continues to be so hot and humid, the power demand may further go up," they warned.
The minimum demand was 3,655 MW at 7:07 am and the the difference between the maximum and minimum demand was 1987 MW. The highest demand was more than 50 per cent of the lowest demand.
During the last decade the demand of power has increased very rapidly. The demand of power in July 2002 was 3,097 MW while last year, the highest demand recorded was 5028 MW on August 2.
Total demand in Delhi in 24 hours from mid-night of July 3 till midnight July 4 was 103.971 Million Units out of which 103.108 Million Units was successfully met.
Officials said 0.670 Million Units were shed due to transmission and distribution constraints and 0.193 Million Units were shed to restrict over drawal at low frequency.
The official statement said the purchasing power of general public has increased and they are buying more gadgets operated on electricity.
"This is one of the major factors of rising electricity consumption. The demand of power over the years has shown significant growth, which is also a clear indication of prosperity," it said.
The power demand in the city has been increasing at a rate of around eight per cent in the last few years and as per projection of the government, it was expected to cross 5,500 MW this summer.
As per official figure, the power demand in 1905 was just two mega watt which had increased to 27 mega watt in 1947. The peak demand had touched 1,536 MW in 1992 while in 1997 it increased to 2,303 MW and further to 2,879 MW in 2001.
In 2002, the power demand had gone up to 3,097 MW while in 2007, it touched 4,030 MW. While the demand went up to 4,408 MW in 2009, it touched 4,720 MW in 2010.
Last year, the demand had gone up to 5,028 mega watt, which was the all-time high demand till it was breached when the demand touched 5,032 mega watt on May 25.
