The all-India peak power demand touched an all-time high of 201.066 GW on April 26, 2022, surpassing the peak power demand of 200.539 GW met on July 7, 2021.

According to a Ministry of Power release, the rising power demand reflects the pace of economic growth in the country.

In March this year, the growth in energy demand was around 8.9%. The demand is expected to reach 215-220 GW in May-June.

The ministry said that the government and other stakeholders are working together to ensure an unhindered power supply, and efforts at all fronts are being made for better utilization of resources.

Minister of Power R K Singh also tweeted about the peak demand reaching an all-time high.

Peak power demand in India exceeded the 200 GW mark in July 2021 for the first time, surpassing the previous high of 197.06 GW.

Peak power demand refers to the highest electricity demand at a given time.

According to data put out by the National Load Despatch Center, the demand met during the peak evening hours at 8 pm from regional load despatch centers was 189.529 GW. The western region met the most demand at 67.6 GW, followed by the southern region at 55.23 GW, the northern region at 54.65 GW, the eastern region at 24.32 GW, and the north-eastern region at 2.8 GW.

Coal was the single largest source of power generation at 76%, followed by renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass) at 10%, hydro at 9%, while nuclear, lignite, gas, naphtha, and diesel contributed the rest to the overall power generation.

On July 7, 2021, when peak power demand had crossed the 200 GW threshold, coal had contributed 68% to the peak demand met, followed by hydro at 15% and renewable energy at 10%.

The all-time high demand comes amid coal shortages at thermal power plants and power outages in some states. However, the Coal Ministry maintains that there is no shortage of coal. Last week, Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said 72.50 million tons of coal is available at different sources of Coal India, Singareni Collieries, and coal washeries. He said that 22.01 million tons were available with thermal power plants in a tweet.

Joshi said that the stocks would last for a month and were replenished daily with record production.

India had witnessed severe coal shortages in the second half of 2021, affecting power generation.