The unusual electricity trends of 2023, explained
For the summer of 2023, India’s power ministry had predicted a peak electricity demand of 230 gigawatts (GW). But given an erratic and milder summer early on, the projection was not met until August, instead of the usual peak of June or July. Thanks to the driest August in 123 years, the monsoon months’ peak demand turned out to be 7.5% greater than that of the hottest summer months, a record gap in at least 15 years, a Mint analysis showed.
The highest demand this year was met at 12.22 pm on 1 September, at 240 GW, not only a historic high but also the most delayed peak since lockdown-affected 2020, according to data from the Grid Controller of India. Last year, demand had peaked at 211 GW on 16 June. Power demand is a measure of the amount of electricity drawn at an instant, and is different from electricity consumption, which is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh), the unit seen in household power bills.
One kilowatt of demand sustained for an hour leads to a consumption of 1 kWh, and one gigawatt is 1 million kWh. Even after the dry August, India managed to dodge a drought due to the rains in September, which made it relatively cooler. This also showed in electricity use, which stood at 140 billion units, 7.8% down since August and the biggest month-on-month drop in a year.
Earlier, August had seen a 5.8% jump over July. However, the heavy rain has also led to fears of coal shortage. Despite the sharp decline in consumption last month, India ended up using 6.7% more electricity in the September quarter than the June quarter, given the strong August impact.
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