Northwest and Central India have sweltered under an extreme heatwave since mid-May, with daytime maximum temperatures in the range of 40-47 °C and some locations recording temperatures as high as 48 °C. This has driven electricity demand to record highs, with peak demand reaching 270 GigaWatts (GW) on May 21.
Power consumption in India is on the rise amid economic and population growth, as well as the growing use of air conditioning. Since 2019, the country’s electricity demand has increased by 5% per year. While electricity supply has kept pace, solar PV has accounted for two-thirds of power capacity additions in India since 2019.
Against this backdrop, ensuring adequate power generation capacity during periods of peak demand is emerging as a key electricity security issue – particularly at night, when electricity demand for cooling has been growing and the country’s solar PV capacity cannot contribute.
Indian system planners also need to ensure that enough resources are available to meet power demand at times when it is high but output from renewables is low.
