Heatwave in Maharashtra: Electricity demand increases due to increase in temperature

The heatwave has developed especially in the month of March in the central part of India. As the heatwave continues over large parts of the country, Akola in Maharashtra and Barmer in Rajasthan recorded a maximum temperature of 42.9 degrees, the highest across India on Wednesday, the IMD said.

In many cities of Maharashtra, the temperature has crossed 40 degrees Celsius. The meteorological department has warned of heat wave in Vidarbha today. Nagpur, Wardha, Akola and Amravati districts of Vidarbha are likely to experience heat waves. 

On the one hand, there is a crisis of heat wave in the state, on the other hand, there is an increase in demand for electricity. Two days ago, on March 15, a total of 27,212 MW of electricity was used in the state. Mumbai has also reached the peak of power consumption. Mumbai consumes 3600 MW of electricity in a single day. This summer is expected to be intense. Therefore, MSEDCL estimates that the average electricity consumption in the state will reach 24,000 MW. 

MSEDCL, which is already facing financial crisis due to shortage of coal, will face a big challenge to meet this demand. MSEDCL has appealed to the citizens to use low power consuming lamps and electronic devices.

MSEDCL officials said that despite the increase in power demand in the state, MSEDCL has supplied the required amount of power. MSEDCL said that 23,605 MW of electricity has been supplied smoothly and uninterruptedly as per the demand. Over the past month, there has been a record high demand for electricity. Earlier, on February 19, it met the demand of 23,286 MW from MSEDCL. Earlier, on February 8, 23,075 MW and on February 12, 23,163 MW was supplied as per the demand.

There has been a heat wave in the state for the last few days. Therefore, the demand for electricity is also constantly increasing. At present the demand for electricity in MSEDCL is between 23,000 and 23,500 MW. However, due to rising temperatures, the demand for electricity is likely to reach 24,000 MW in the next few days. In this situation, while meeting the record demand for electricity, care has been taken to ensure that no load shedding has taken place in any part of the state. For this, pre-monsoon maintenance and repair work has been expedited by MSEDCL, officials said.