Peak power demand

Peak power demand

Subject: Economy

Concept: Peak power demand in the country crossed the 2,00,000mega watt (MW) mark for the first time on Wednesday, surpassing the previous all-time high of 1,97,060 MW recorded just a day ago

Concept:

• Peak demand on an electrical grid is the highest electrical power demand that has occurred over a specified time period. Peak demand is typically characterized as annual, daily or seasonal and has the unit of power
• Peak demand reflects the highest power requirement level reached at a particular moment.
• The cost of energy production is high due to the use of peaking power

Reason

• Post lockdown industries restarting
• India’s peak electricity demand usually occurs in the evening.
• It depends on the demography, the economy, the weather, the climate, the season, the day of the week and other factors.
• Residential and commercial electricity demand contributes a lot to this type of network peak demand

According to IIT-Kanpur’s Energy Analytics Lab, 67% of the load was met by thermal power plants when demand was at its peak, while 16% was supplied by renewable power sources. Hydro power plants contributed another 14% and gas and nuclear units catered to the remaining demand at that time.