Under a scorching sun, Delhi's demand for electricity breaks all previous records

A possible blackout looms with Delhi CM having already warned about coal shortage in power plants.

IANS Photo

New Delhi: The capital and adjoining areas have been baking under consistently scorching temperatures for more than a week and it has resulted in demand for electricity reaching levels unseen before.

On Friday, the demand for power broke all previous records and was at 6651MW at 1536 hours, according to BSES Discom. It is reported that that the peak demand last year was at 6526MW. In fact, demand crossed 6000MW-mark only twice in 2017. This year, officials say demand has crossed the same mark eight times so far and it is largely due to the prevailing weather conditions in the city. Many also feel it is likely to breach the 7000MW-mark.

The mercury has consistently been well over the 40C-mark, often even touching 45C. This is three to five degrees above normal for around this time of the year. As per Met department's predictions, there were strong winds across the city on Friday evening but these are not expected to have any significant and lasting impact on weather conditions here. Instead, humidity levels have and will increase, further adding to the woes of locals.

Private weather monitoring agencies like Skymet Weather and Accu Weather have forecast more hot days for the capital in the near future. In fact, Skymet Weather predicts the temperature to touch 47C on June 9 which could see demand for power increasing even more. Load shedding is now a real possibility with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal already having written to PM Narendra Modi over shortage of coal in power plants in and around Delhi. The matter, as many expected, took a political turn with Union Coal Minister Piyush Goel blaming Kejriwal's 'faulty policies' for the power situation.