Summer scorcher: Delhi's hunger for electricity to reach new heights in 2018

NEW DELHI: As summer season approaches, the national capital is set to witness a power demand of 7000 megawatts (MW), highest so far. 

Delhi had witnessed an all-time peak demand of 6526 MW on June 6, 2017, at 15:31 hours.

“Delhi government-owned State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) has worked out the anticipated power scenario for Summer months i.e. from April 2018 to September 2018 based on the historical trends. As per the projections, the peak demand of Delhi is expected to reach 7000 MW during the oncoming summer season of 2018,” said Power Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday

To meet the increasing demand in power supply, Jain announced a Summer Action Plan, outlining the power supply arrangements for Delhi during the coming months. 

A 1000 MW green power (solar and wind) will be procured to meet the requirements.

The state has also identified key focus areas to prepare for the surge in electricity demand. These include network upgradation in problem areas, reduced outages and quick restoration, manpower management, and speedy resolution of consumer complaints.

“In order to meet the increased anticipated demand the Transmission system capacity is augmented every year by DTL and DISCOMs prepare and execute their plans to establish a matching Sub-transmission and Distribution system,” said a release from Delhi government.

“This year there is an addition of 1040 MVA in DTL system, a new 220 kV sub-station has been commissioned at Papankalan-III and another 220 kV sub-station at R. K. Puram shall be commissioned soon. Other than these, new Transformers/in-feeds have been added at Masjid Moth, Peeragarhi and Papankalan-I,” added the release.

In 2017, the Power Department “ensured over 99 % power supply during peak summer months, meaning the power cuts merely .06% and this summer,” claimed Jain. The target is to further improve this figure, he added.

Following Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's direction, the power department has strengthened its Consumer complaint handling mechanisms.