India’s electricity demand grew 7.5% in the first 18 days of February with early onset of summer in the South and West, offering some relief to the stressed thermal power sector which can now operate at higher capacities. As per an official quoted in a report in the Economic Times, the thermal power plants are operating at 58 per cent capacity currently.
After 5-months of declining demand, the demand for power had gone up 3.7 per cent in January. As compared to January 2019, the demand was 3.5 per cent higher.
Thermal and large hydro projects generated 7.3% more electricity during February 1-18 than the same period last year, while renewable power plants produced about 5.3% more electricity. Peak-hour power requirement has touched 176.6 gw in the current month so far, against 160 gw in the corresponding period a year ago.
The power demand for the April-January period of the current financial year was 10.7% higher than in the same period last fiscal year.
India’s power demand only grew at 1.1 per cent across 2019. The surge in demand across January and February could also be interpreted as an early indicator of economic recovery.