Ahead of revised office timings, power demand in Punjab dips by 1,000 MW following wet spell

Aman Sood

Patiala, May 1

A day ahead of tomorrow’s revised office timings, the power demand in the state witnessed a sharp dip of 1,000 MW following a wet spell.

From May 2, the government offices in the state will function from 7.30 am to 2 pm till July 15 in order to save electricity during the peak summer and divert it to the farm sector.

As per data collected from Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), the maximum power demand of 7,300 MW was witnessed last week, which decreased to 6,300 MW on Sunday. On Saturday morning, the maximum demand of 7,388 MW was recorded at 9 am and in the evening, it dipped to 5,963 MW.

As a result, all units at the state-run thermal plants in Ropar and Lehra Mohabatt were shut and seven private sector thermal units were running at half load. Even Ranjit Sagar hydel project was not operating due to a low demand. On Monday, the power demand was less than 6,000 MW till the filing the report.

A PSPCL official said, “We expect the demand to dip further this week. The demand will go up gradually after the rain spell is over.”

“The change in the timings from May 2 will not impact us much as the demand is low. However, it will be beneficial in the last week of May,” he said, adding that they would stock coal during this period.

The PSPCL official said the peak load started after 1 pm and the closure of the government offices at 2 pm would reduce the peak load by 300 to 350 MW.

This year, the demand is expected to rise to 15,500 MW per day against a maximum of 14,311 MW in 2022.