An unrelenting severe heatwave has pushed India's electricity grid to a new milestone, shattering power demand records for the fourth consecutive day.
India crossed 270 giga watt (GW) of peak demand on Thursday, up from Wednesday's peak power demand of 265.44 GW, the power ministry said as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned that the extreme daytime temperatures will persist through the week.
The IMD has forecast that the severe heat wave conditions will continue over the plains of northwest and central India and adjoining eastern India.
Solar energy provided 32% of India's total power generation at noon on Thursday, with around 80 GW of power being contributed by solar alone.
Experts say India must urgently act on four fronts to meet the increasing power demand, including fast-tracking the commissioning of battery and pumped hydro storage, maintaining adequate coal stocks, expanding time-of-day tariffs, and equipping discoms with AI-driven, weather-linked tools.
