Power Ministry may raise FY32 peak demand forecast after review

New Delhi: The power ministry is reassessing its forecast of peak demand for 2031-32 and may revise it upwards on the back of rapidly increasing electricity consumption, which may have rendered the current projection of 384 GW improbably low.

"We are now working on and updating our projections. We have been working with the states. Some of these states have already updated their demand and very shortly we will be updating our national electricity plan also," power secretary Pankaj Agarwal said on the sidelines of the Confederation of India Industry's Conference on Smart Metering.

Speaking at the event, Agarwal said the feedback amid increasing consumption was that the peak demand might cross 400 GW in 2031-32, as against the ministry's assessment of 384 GW.

India's peak demand touched a record 250 GW in May amid heatwave and higher-than-normal temperatures. The projection for this financial year is that the demand could go up to 260 GW.

"We might witness another surge in September-October," Agarwal said, adding that demand had already increased more than 9% year-on-year in this fiscal in terms of MW and 11% in terms of million units. The major challenges facing the sector are the financial health of power distribution companies and integration of renewable energy in the grid, Agarwal said.

Smart metering is important for the broader power system management as well as distribution companies, he said. Talking about financial viability, the power secretary said the sector was still sitting on accumulated losses of more than ₹6.5 lakh crore. which was a big challenge. He stressed on the need for better forecasting and bringing down the margin of error in it. "What we need is storage - whether it is pumped or battery storage. What we also need is high quality forecasting tools," Agarwal said. -Our Bureau