As city sizzles at 36.7°C, power demand soars to 4,129 MW
According to officials from Tata Power, Mumbai’s hourly peak was at 4pm when the average demand for that hour was 4,109 MW. “Mumbai’s demand touched 4,129 MW for 15 minutes between 3.30pm to 3.45pm
Mumbai: The city is reeling under relentless heat, thanks to no pre-monsoon showers and delayed onset of monsoon. The maximum temperature at Mumbai’s base weather station (in Santacruz) touched 36.7 degrees Celsius on June 9, which was three degrees above normal. This also led to a surge in power consumption with the city clocking its highest peak demand at 4,129 megawatts (MW) on Friday.
The electricity demand in summer would usually hover around 3600-3900 MW.
Sources said while the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML) and Tata Power put together catering to a demand of 3995 MW, the remaining 134 MW was in Mulund and Bhandup which is supplied by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd (MSEDCL).
This time again, the electricity demand peaked around 3.30pm. According to officials from Tata Power, Mumbai’s hourly peak was at 4pm when the average demand for that hour was 4,109 MW. “Mumbai’s demand touched 4,129 MW for 15 minutes between 3.30pm to 3.45pm. Tata Power’s peak demand was 1003 MW,” said a spokesperson for Tata Power.
Every power distribution company monitors the power demand every second while the data gets updated every 15 minutes. Mumbai has a consumer base of around 46 lakh that includes 10.50 lakh of BEST Undertaking, 26 lakh AEML consumers, 7.50 lakh consumers supplied by Tata Power and around 2 lakh or more consumers of MSEDCL in Bhandup and Mulund areas in the eastern suburbs. The MSEDCL has a consumer base of 2.84 crore across the state. According to power distribution companies, the demand went up owing to the rising temperatures which surpassed 36 degrees Celsius.
Adani Electricity spokesperson said, “Our peak demand reached 2,161 MW which is an increase of 5% in comparison to last year. Our power forecasting model enables us to accurately predict and meet the demand at the most optimal power purchase cost.”
The maximum temperature on June 8 was 35.7 degrees Celsius and Friday was the hottest that the city has been since May 11, when the mercury had touched 36.9 degrees Celsius. Friday’s reading was three degrees Celsius above normal. In fact, the past 10 days have been quite hot. On June 1, the city recorded a power demand of 3971 MW while on May 31, it was 3968 MW.
“There was a slight delay in westerly sea breeze setting in today because the prevailing wind patterns are southerly, possibly due to the influence of Cyclone Biparjoy. This could have led to a spike in temperature, and stuffiness may persist in Mumbai for another day. But there is a chance of light rain as well. As the cyclone passes Maharashtra, the spiral bands around it may deposit some rain over Mumbai and surrounding areas but there is no storm or heavy rain warning for the city,” said Sushma Nair, a meteorologist with the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
There is a chance of such pre-monsoon showers till June 11, per the IMD’s forecast, which may bring relief to citizens. “Rain or thundershowers would occur towards afternoon or evening (on June 10 and 11),” IMD’s forecast for Santacruz said on Friday.
The maximum temperature is expected to reduce gradually over the next week, dipping to 33 degrees Celsius by June 15.
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