Single day power demand peaks in TN; 17,370 MW consumed in one day
The unabated soaring temperature has constantly pushed power demand and at 5.30 pm on Thursday, the power demand eclipsed the previous high of 17,196 on March 29.
Chennai: Amid the coal shortage faced by the thermal power plants, Tamil Nadu’s power demand shot up to an all-time high of 17,370 MW on Thursday evening, thanks to soaring temperature across the state.
The unabated soaring temperature has constantly pushed power demand and at 5.30 pm on Thursday, the power demand eclipsed the previous high of 17,196 on March 29.
On Thursday, several districts in the State recorded a maximum temperature of over 36 degrees Celsius, including Vellore (40.3 degrees C), Tiruchirapalli (40.1 degrees C) and Chennai Airport (37.6 degrees C). The temperature expected further go up with the commencement of Agni Natchathiram (peak summer) from May 4 to 28 and will last till May 28. Meanwhile, the Met Department has warned that the maximum temperature will be 2-3 degrees above normal for the next three days in the isolated pockets of Tamil Nadu.
The daily energy consumption on Thursday also touched a record 387 million units bettering 378 MU recorded a day before. “We are able to meet the record power demand on Thursday due to the availability of short term power purchase. We are regularly meeting a power demand of over 17,000 MW. We expect the power demand to go up by another 200-300 MW in the coming days,” a senior TANGEDCO official said.
The official said that there are multiple reasons for the power demand going up. “Summer is one of the factors when the air conditioner usage will be high,” the official said, adding that the industrial demand has gone up following the lifting of all the Covid restrictions and returning of normalcy. “Agricultural power demand has gone up by 300-400 MW after the newly added one lakh service connections to farmers. Moreover, the increase in the number of services connections over the years also leads increase in power demand,” the official added.
The State’s highest power demand recorded last year was 16,846 MW on April 10, 2021, and the highest energy consumption was 372.70 MUs on April 9, 2021.
All-time high power demand in Tamil Nadu
April 28, 2022 - 17,370 MW
March 29, 2022 - 17,196 MW
April 10, 2021 - 16,846 MW
March 26, 2021 - 16,481 MW
All-time high energy consumption
April 28, 2022 - 387.047 MU
April 27, 2022 - 378.324 MU
March 29, 2022 - 375.699 MU
April 9, 2021 - 372.702 MU
April 12, 2019 - 369.940 million units
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