CHENNAI: With the city sizzling under the heatwave, Chennai's peak power demand has shot up to an all-time high of 4,368 MW on Thursday night with people using the air conditioners to get relief from the high temperature.

The city's maximum temperature hovered around 36 degrees Celsius even as the Met Department warned of intense heat in the first week of May in the state's North interior.

As the temperature remains above normal, people are turning to air conditioners to get respite from the sweltering heat.

According to the TANGEDCO officials, the city's peak power demand stood at 4,335 MW on Wednesday night bettering the previous high of 4,300 MW recorded on June 16 last year.

The official attributed the increase in the power demand to prevailing hot weather conditions across the city.

"People are using ACs at homes, offices, shops and commercial establishments to get relief from the intense heat, " the official said.

Even though the city's power demand has shot up to a record high, there were no rampant power outages across the city like in June 2023.

After the city's power distribution network was put to test on June 16, 2023 with the demand touching 4,300 MW, TANGEDCO has identified the substations that required additional capacity transformers and installed them, a senior official said, adding that they would be able to meet the city's power demand which is likely to go up in May further.

On April 18 this year, the State recorded an all-time high power demand of 20,341 MW.

The State had also witnessed the highest power consumption of 448.21 million units (MUs).