Power demand in Delhi reaches all-time high at 5,810 MW, breaks all previous records

Power demand in the national capital Delhi again broke all records on Friday, touching an all-time high of 5,810 MW, a day after registering the highest demand. On Thursday, the power demand soared to 5,789 MW.

"The maximum power demand in the city was recorded at 5,810 MW at 3:58 pm which is a new record of power consumption in Delhi," a power department official said.

The demand touched all time high as mercury rose to 42 degrees Celsius. The rise in electricity demand caused power cuts ranging from one to two hours. 

The power demand in the city has been increasing at a rate of around 8% in the last few years and government had projected it to touch 6,000 MW this summer.

According to official figures, the power demand in 1905 was just two mega watt which had increased to 27 mega watt in 1947. The peak demand was recorded at 86 MW in 1961 and 259 MW in 1971. It had touched 563 MW in 1981 and rose to 1,536 MW in 1992. In 1997, the power demand increased to 2,303 MW and further to 2,879 MW in 2001.

In 2002, the power demand had gone up to 3,097 MW while in 2007, it touched 4,030 MW. While the demand went up to 4,408 MW in 2009, it touched 4,720 MW in 2010. In 2011, the demand had gone up to 5,028 mega watt and it went up to 5,642 MW in 2012.

On June 6 last year, the power demand breached all previous records touching 5,653 MW.