NEW DELHI, May 22 — India’s power producers have hit a record high in electricity generation as large parts of the world’s most populous country endure an intense heatwave, the Ministry of Power said.
NEW DELHI, May 22 — India’s power producers have hit a record high in electricity generation as large parts of the world’s most populous country endure an intense heatwave, the Ministry of Power said.
The ministry said yesterday marked the “fourth consecutive day when peak power demand (during solar hours) reached a new all-time high” in a statement.
At 3.45pm yesterday, when temperatures in New Delhi soared to 45.3°C, the country’s peak demand of 270.82 gigawatts (GW) was “successfully met”, it said, surpassing Wednesday’s record of 265.44 GW.
“The increase in demand appears to be driven by higher use of cooling appliances,” the ministry added in a post on social media late yesterday.
Thermal power, mainly coal-based generation, contributed 62 per cent of output, followed by solar at 22 per cent, while wind and hydropower each accounted for five per cent, with the remainder from other sources.
India, the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 but continues to rely heavily on coal.
Despite record generation, users on the ministry’s X account reported power cuts in several areas, with ageing infrastructure such as transformers and wiring often strained during extreme heat, leading to localised outages.
The 1.4 billion-strong South Asian nation is familiar with severe summer heat, with heatwaves typically occurring between April and June.
Scientific studies have shown that climate change is intensifying heatwaves, making them longer, more frequent and more severe.
The India Meteorological Department reported a peak temperature of 47.6°C in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, around 450 kilometres southeast of New Delhi, slightly lower than the 48.2°C recorded earlier in the week.
India’s highest recorded temperature remains 51°C in Phalodi, Rajasthan, in 2016.
In April, international air-quality monitoring platform AQI noted that its global heat index data showed all of the world’s 50 hottest cities were in India. — AFP
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