Ahmedabad: Power demand at one-year high

AHMEDABAD: Rising temperature has sent the power demand across the state soaring with people running their air conditioners, coolers and fans for long hours.
The peak demand for electricity has remained upwards of 18,000MW over the past few days and it touched 18,305MW on June 7, which is the highest so far in 2019.
“The demand surged to the highest level on Friday mainly because of a spike in domestic consumption.Soaring temperature is primarily responsible for higher domestic consumption,” said a government official.
Ahmedabad on June 7 recorded a maximum temperature of 44.2 degree celsius, which was three degrees above normal. The temperature remained high at 44.1 degrees on Saturday as well.
Amid scorching heat, power demand has remained above 18,000MW over the past three days. The peak demand of 18,238MW, 18305MW and 18,164MW was recorded in Gujarat on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, shows data compiled by Western Region Load Dispatch Center (WRLDC).
According to State Load Dispatch Center (SLDC), a unit of Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO), the highest peak demand in May was registered at 18,088MW on the last day of the month.
April, March, February and January months saw their highest demand settling at 17,865MW, 16,263MW, 15,409MW and 15,723 MWrespectively.