By Sarita Chaganti Singh, Sudarshan Varadhan and Carman Chew
NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Surging power demand in India poses a problem for a rustic the place photo voltaic power is rising quickly however era capability is stretched when the solar goes down.
In 2022, India’s power demand grew about 8% – or at almost double the tempo of the Asia Pacific area – to greater than 149.7 terawatt-hours (TWh) from the earlier yr.
And in the primary two months of 2023, demand jumped 10% from a yr in the past.
Following are the elements behind the speedy progress in demand.
WHERE IS DEMAND GROWTH COMING FROM?
In absolute phrases, the states with the strongest progress in demand in 2022 had been the northwestern desert state Rajasthan and the western states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, the place lots of the nation’s industries are concentrated, a Reuters evaluation of presidency knowledge confirmed.
The japanese state of Chhattisgarh, recognized for in depth mining exercise, had 16.6% progress in the 5 months because the monsoon ended in 2022, whereas Rajasthan’s power demand grew 15.1% in the identical interval.
Growth charges had been additionally excessive in Punjab in the north, the place agricultural demand makes up the lion’s share of complete power use, and Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar – the place residential demand has traditionally accounted for many of the load.
WHY IS DEMAND GROWING?
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have beforehand linked elevated power demand to larger financial exercise.
Industrial and industrial exercise account for greater than half of India’s annual power use. Homes account for a fourth, whereas agriculture has accounted for over a sixth in the latest years.
Consumption patterns differ wildly by state and season.
A heatwave and easing of COVID-19 curbs drove power demand larger in the primary half of 2022. Erratic climate and a leap in agricultural exercise had been among the many most distinguished causes behind the excessive progress in the second half of final yr, based on a federal power ministry presentation reviewed by Reuters.
In northern Haryana and Telangana in the south, sudden dry spells contributed to larger demand from agricultural customers of electrical energy throughout November and December, based on the presentation, which was primarily based on assessments by grid operators in totally different states.
Higher demand from business in Andhra Pradesh and tech workers returning to workplace in India’s silicon valley Bengaluru in Karnataka state additionally drove power deplete.
In the football-crazy, southern state of Kerala, the dwell streaming of World Cup matches doubtlessly contributed to a 4.1% hike in peak demand, a power ministry official stated in the presentation.
In Punjab, a coverage to supply free power to some customers boosted demand, whereas a choice to extend hours of power provide to agricultural customers in Rajasthan resulted in a 22% rise in November and 15% rise in power demand in December, based on the presentation.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Officials are scrambling to make sure India doesn’t face power outages this summer time, when demand usually peaks.
India faces excessive dangers of nighttime blackouts this summer time, following years of neglect in including new coal and hydropower capability, wanted notably at evening when photo voltaic capability is unavailable.
(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh in New Delhi and Sudarshan Varadhan and Carman Chew in Singapore; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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