Power demand up in city, down in dists

Ever since the COVID-19 lockdown was enforced on March 24, the State’s power demand has come down by 30 per cent with the closure of the industries and commercial establishments and it remained the same but Chennai’s demand has gone up steeply.

The State’s peak power demand has been hovering around 10,000 MW to 10,500 MW for the past one month compared to the normal demand of 15,500 MW to 16,000 MW during the same period last year.

Keeping in line with the State’s trend, the Chennai peak power demand also came down to about 2,000 MW in March last week with the enforcement of curfew and many companies provided work from home option.

For the past two week,the city’s power demand is on the rise thanks to sweltering heat. The metropolitan city’s peak power demand touched 2,532 MW on Saturday night. “The city power demand is driven by residential consumers.

As we approach the peak summer season, the power demand has gone up in the city with the residents using the air-conditioners in the afternoon and during night time. For quite some years, the city’s power demand is largely dependent on the domestic consumption rather than the industries and other commercial establishments,” said a senior Tangedco official.

Chennai’s demand might go up further 200 to 300 MW when the peak summer season Kathri begins, the official noted. “Almost all the office goers are used to sit in the air-conditioned offices.

So they are keeping the ACs running even during the day time as they could not bear the rising temperature at home,” he pointed out.