Gurugram peak power demand at 1,821MW, likely to rise further

Gurugram reported its highest ever peak power demand this summer on Monday when it touched 1,821 megawatt (MW) according to data available with the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) Limited, said officials on Tuesday adding that the power demand is likely to increase further next month.

Officials from the state power utility said last year, the peak power load reported in the month of June was 1,539MW, which was recorded on June 24.

P K Chauhan, superintending engineer of Gurugram circle-II, DHBVN, said Monday’s peak power load was the highest to be recorded in Gurugram so far this year. “However, there is no shortage of power supply in Gurugram and the power cuts cannot be attributed to increasing load. Wherever power outages are taking place, it is due to local issues,” he said.

Chauhan said the maximum power load recorded till Monday is expected to climb further in July.

“Real estate activities have increased in Gurugram. The DHBVN has released a large number of temporary connections to builders. Moreover, the prevailing heat and temperature, clubbed with increased commercial and industrial activities, are driving the power demand of the city,” said Chauhan.

According to officials, the maximum load recorded in 2018 was 1,368MW, which increased to 1,488MW in 2019. In 2020, Gurugram recorded maximum power load of 1,572MW and it further increased to 1,781MW in 2021.

He added the city’s power supply infrastructure has been strengthened in the last few years, due to which it now has a capacity of handling more than 3,000MW load for 220kv supply lines.

Despite the state power utility claiming to have strengthened the infrastructure and improving power supply to the city, there were some areas such as Sector-52, Sector-28 and Udyog Vihar, which faced power outages for long hours.

Officials said that power cuts continued for almost 30 minutes to more than an hour in areas across Gurugram on Monday night as well as on Tuesday evening too.

Satyadeo Tiwari, a trader in Sector-28, said there were frequent and long power cuts in the area even on Tuesday evening. “Power cuts took place on Monday night too,” he said.

Ashok Kohli, president of the Chambers of Industries of Udyog Vihar, said there was a power outage in his area for around two to three hours. “It caused much inconvenience to the commercial establishments,” he said.

Authorities said the power supply situation was regulated by shutting down electricity supply from feeders in different areas for some time in the city.

According to officials, Gurugram’s maximum load recorded in April this year was 1,671MW compared to 1,292MW recorded in the corresponding period last year.

In May, the maximum load was 1,680MW while it was only 1,007MW last year, when Gurugram was hit hard by the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

Power officials said the power demand has been unexpectedly high this year and the trend shows that demand for power has increased by 15-20% every month compared to the corresponding months last year. In the past, the average increase in demand used to be somewhere between 6% and 10%.

“Last year, commercial and industrial activities were yet to pick up pace after being hit by Covid-19 pandemic,” said a senior DHBVN official adding it’s a jump of around 18.3% in the maximum load recorded till Monday for the month of June when compared to last year.

Due to this steep increase in demand, Haryana faced an acute shortage of power from March end to last week of April this year and it was addressed by purchasing power, said officials.

It is almost after a decade that Haryana is importing coal this time due to its short supply from domestic markets to feed the power houses within the state and meet electricity demands.

As per the authorities, Haryana recorded the highest power load of 11,775MW this year. There has been a steady and sharp increase in load in the last ten days, said officials adding the maximum load recorded on June 19 was 7852MW.