The peak power demand in the national capital shot up to an all time high of 6,526 MW today, with many areas facing outages due to local faults as the heatwave condition continued in the city.
The soaring temperature has put pressure on power demand which rose to 6,526 MW at 3.31 pm, the highest ever recorded level in Delhi, the figures provided by the Power department said.
Yesterday, the peak power demand was recoded at 6,361 MW, the second highest in this summer season.
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With mercury hovering over 44 degrees Celsius mark for the past two days, the peak power demand rose to record levels and also led to outages in many parts of the city due to local faults.
Scheduled power cuts by the distribution companies (discoms) BSES and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) also added to people's miseries in the sweltering heat.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today directed the government officials to report the unscheduled power cuts to him on daily basis.
He also directed the discoms to increase the capacity of their call centres for satisfactory disposal of consumer's complaints.
Residents in many parts of the city, including Sangam Vihar, Uttam Nagar, Najafgarh, Dwarka, Seelampur, Chandni Chowk, Laxmi Nagar, Narela, Jahangirpuri and Burari complained about sporadic power cuts ranging from one to two hours in their areas.
The discom officials said that due to extreme heat and round-the-clock demand for power, including at night, the electricity network does not get sufficient time to cool down, leading to local faults at times.
The problem is further complicated by "unprecedented" load in areas prone to power pilferage leading to trippings and burn out of distribution equipment, they said.
The hot summer months this year have pushed the peak power demands to record levels, with April registering the highest ever demand for the month at 5,685 MW which was 18 per cent more than the peak power demand of 4,797 MW in the same month last year, a BSES official said.
In March, the peak power demand in the city crossed the 4,000 MW mark for the first time ever, he added.
The discoms had expected that the peak demand will cross the 6,500 MW level in view of severe summer season, predicted this year by the Meteorological department.
Arrangements such as long power purchasing agreements (PPAs) and banking arrangements with other states besides strengthening distribution network have been put in place for ensuring uninterrupted supply, he said.
Similar arrangements were also made by the other power discom, TPDDL, to meet the increased demand.
"Adequate arrangements of up to 2,000 MW, along with contingency plans, are in place to ensure regular supply in our area of distribution," CEO and MD of TPDDL, Praveer Sinha said.
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