Chennai: As the temperature is rising across Tamil Nadu, the state’s power demand is also surging, prompting the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation (TNPDCL) to anticipate a new all-time high for both peak demand and daily consumption within the first week of April.
On March 28, the state recorded a peak power demand of 19,939 megawatts (MW) and a daily consumption of 431.6 million units (Mu). These figures are nearing the existing records of 20,830 MW and 454.320 Mu, which were set on May 2 and April 30 of last year, respectively. While the year-on-year increase in demand has been around 2%, lower than the usual 6-9%, TNPDCL officials expect a significant jump in the coming days.
“The period between April 15 and May 15 is crucial. We have made extensive arrangements to ensure there are no outages,” stated J Radhakrishnan, chairman and managing director of Tangedco.
The state’s electricity minister V Senthil Balaji had announced the discom has signed power purchase agreements for 6,000 MW to meet the power demand in April and May, as power generation from Thoothukudi, Mettur, and North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) Stage II are affected due to fire accidents and mechanical failures. “The challenge is in meeting the peak power demands in the morning and evening hours,” a senior official said. So far, solar power generation has been consistently good. Additionally, Stage III of NCTPS is consistently generating up to 600 MW for the past two weeks, which helps meet the spike in demand.
Another Tangedco official said that only when Chennai’s power demand goes up will it reflect in the overall demand. “Chennai’s demand is around 3,700 MW for the last few days, but as summer peaks, we expect it to touch 5,000 MW this year,” said the official.