First Real Sign of Recovery; Peak Power Demand Returns to Normal

The Peak Power Demand has finally found its way back to normal as India touched 174.33 GW demand on September 9, 2020, showing the first real sign of recovery.

The Peak Power Demand in India, which has perhaps taken one of the biggest hits that lasted nearly 4-6 months due to the lockdown imposed for containment of COVID-19, has finally found its way back to ‘normal’ as India touched 174.33 GW demand on September 9, 2020. Showing a spurt in commercial and industrial activities in the country that had been halted during the lockdown, the peak demand surpassed the highest level of 173.15 GW in September last year.

Slowly but surely economic recovery has started and the first sign for it is here for all of us to see – power demand is normalizing.

— R. K. Singh (@RajKSinghIndia) September 9, 2020

According to data made available by the Power Ministry, the peak power demand met had reached its previous highest level of 173.15 GW also on September 9 last year.Of course, keep in mind that the 2019 figures themselves were a little dissapointing, with demand 1.5 percent below September 2018 levels. So in some ways, the new ‘normal’ is benefiting from the lower base effect too.

The government had imposed the lockdown from March 25, 2020, to fight the deadly coronavirus in the country. It also resulted in lower commercial and industrial demand in April onwards. The government started easing lockdown restrictions from April 20, 2020.

The relaxation in lockdown resulted in perking up electricity demand in the country due to the increase in economic activities. The experts had earlier exuded confidence that the power demand will not only be back to normal levels but will also achieve marginal growth from September onwards. However, bucking the trend, the slump in peak power demand met rose marginally to 5.65 percent in August from 2.61 percent in July, largely due to the onset of monsoons in most parts of the country.

Peak demand met stood at 167.49 GW in August compared to 177.52 GW recorded in the same month last year. The slump in peak power demand met was 2.61 percent in July this year as it was recorded at 170.54 GW, down from 175.12 GW in the same month of 2019. The electricity demand witnessed an increase in May onwards after the easing of lockdown restrictions. In June this year, peak power demand met had dipped by 9.6 percent to 164.98 GW, as against 182.45 GW in June 2019.

In May this year, the peak power demand met stood at 166.22 GW, 8.9 percent less than 182.53 GW in the year-ago period. While in April it stood at 132.73 GW, around 25 percent lower than 176.81 GW recorded in the same month a year earlier, mainly due to lower commercial and industrial demand following the lockdown.