After the rising heat in recent days, Mumbai's power demand reached an all-time high on Tuesday, April 16. The city's peak power demand surpassed 4,000 megawatts (MW), a first-time occurrence that exceeded the usual summertime need of 3,400–3,600 MW.
The power demand peaked at 3,973 on Monday, April 15, and went up to 4,041 the next day. The surge in power demand happened with the city's highest temperature, hitting 38 degrees Celsius. Power distribution companies attribute the spike in power demand to the increase in daytime temperatures.
In Mumbai, nearly 50 lakh people depend on BEST, Adani Electricity, MSEDCL, and Tata Power for their electricity needs. All of them have seen a rise in demand from their customers.
Tata Power, which serves 7.5 lakh customers across the city and suburbs, reported a demand of 1,005 MW. Adani Electricity reported a peak demand of 2,070 MW from its customers. Meanwhile, the 10.5 lakh BEST customers in the island city drew around 880–900 MW of electricity, a big increase from the average of 730–750 MW on a typical summer day.
Despite the state's electricity demand rising to 24,234 MW on Tuesday, representatives of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited assured that no load shedding was implemented.
Mumbai receives power from thermal facilities owned by Tata Power and Adani Electricity, located in Dahanu and Trombay, respectively. The remaining power is sourced from renewable resources and the open market.
The cost of electricity on the open market varied greatly depending on the time of day, reaching up to INR 8–10 per unit during peak demand times. Usually, the cost would only be INR 2-4 per unit. Tata Power also recently raised its rates by 22-24%, with the highest increase affecting customers using up to 300 units of power per month.
Last month, it was reported that India revised its peak electricity demand forecast due to the country's continued above-average energy usage. Sources suggest that the government now projects that the demand for electricity will peak at 384 gigawatts every year throughout 2032, a 5% increase from the previous estimate. In response to the unexpected 7% increase in peak power demand nationwide this season, the Centre has extended the deadline for 15 thermal power plants to use imported coal until mid-October.
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