Heat, paddy season push power demand in Punjab to season’s high

Aman Sood

Patiala, June 13

The extreme summer conditions accompanied by the ongoing paddy transplantation pushed the power demand to an all-time high today, breaking last year’s record of 15,325 MW. The demand is expected to touch a new high in the next 10 days when the paddy season will be at its peak.

Demand likely to shoot up in 10 days

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• 15,379 MW power demand on Thursday
• 15,325 MW highest last year
• 16,500 MW expected in June last week
• 6,200 MW state’s own generation
• 8,900 MW withdrawal from the northern grid

It touched 15,379 MW today, the highest in this season. The state’s own generation was around 6,200 MW and withdrawal from the northern grid was around 8,900 MW.

As per Northern Region Load Dispatch Centre, the power supply on Wednesday was 2,750 LU (lakh units) with the maximum demand of 14,731 MW. The thermal supply from the state’s own plants was 400 LU.

Last year on June 23, the PSPCL met a record maximum demand of 15,325 MW and supplied 3,435 lakh units. “The maximum demand of over 16,500 MW can be expected in the last week of June when the paddy season will be at peak,” said a senior PSPCL official.

Yesterday, the maximum power demand crossed 14,700 MW, the second highest in this paddy season, with the state’s own generation being around 6,150 MW and withdrawal from the northern grid around 8,550 MW. In the first 11 days of June, the PSPCL has supplied 26,589 LU against 18,841 LU during the corresponding period last year. The increase in the supply by the PSPCL in the first 11 days is 7,748 LU.

As per Punjab Agriculture Department, the state had witnessed a staggering 31.93 lakh hectares under rice cultivation, including 5.87 lakh hectares of basmati, in 2023.