Delhi's winter demand peaks with cold, New Year celebrations

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) The winter peak demand of the national capital, pushed by the cold and New Year celebrations, soared to 5.595 MW on Friday, power distribution companies, or discoms, said.

The demand peak was 5,603 MW on Thursday, the third-highest ever winter high on record, they said.

Delhi's peak power demand this winter season is projected to touch 6,000 MW, setting a new seasonal high.

Dense fog enveloped the national capital on Friday morning as cold day conditions prevailed.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature at Safdarjung was recorded at 9.1 degrees Celsius. Other stations logged similar readings, with Palam and Lodhi Road recording a minimum of 9 degrees Celsius each, Ridge 8.7 degrees Celsius, and Ayanagar 8.1 degrees Celsius.

The weather office has said a cold wave is likely to affect isolated places between January 2 and January 5.

A BSES spokesperson said that the BRPL and BYPL discoms were committed to ensuring that their more than 53 lakh consumers continue to avail a reliable electricity throughout the winters.

The BSES discoms successfully met the peak demands in their areas, the person said.

The surge in power demand reflects evolving consumption patterns driven by prevailing weather conditions and increased electricity usage across sectors, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) said in a statement.

The discom said that despite the sharp rise, TPDDL successfully met the increased demand in its distribution area, which peaked at 1,741 MW, the season's highest till date, without any outages or network constraints.

BSES said over 52 per cent of its winter power comes from renewable sources, and is at the forefront of Delhi's green energy transition.

Of around 3,900 MW of projected winter demand across the BRPL and BYPL areas, up to over 50 per cent will be met through renewable and clean energy sources — solar, wind, hydro, waste-to-energy, hybrid —, the discom said. PTI VIT VIT VN VN