With the sowing season of paddy kicking in and amid intense heatwave conditions in Punjab, the power demand in the state crossed 16,000 MW for the first time and touched an all-time high of 16,078 MW on Wednesday. Power department officials said during the peak demand, Punjab’s own generation stood around 5,700 MW while more than 10,300 MW was drawn from the northern grid.
On Tuesday, Punjab had supplied 3,390 lakh unit (LU) of power and the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) purchased 588 LU of power from other exchanges.
Meanwhile, amid heightened power demand, a unit of the 660 MW Talwandi Sabo power station tripped due to a boiler problem and thus, the PSPCL is expected to purchase more power on Wednesday. As a result of the trip, reports of unscheduled power cuts are being reported from several parts of the state.
During the last five days, demand for power in Punjab has been hovering above 15,000 MW. AS per available data, on June 13, it was 15,478 MW, 15,815 MW on June 14, 15,448 MW on June 15, 15,030 on June 16 and 15, 484 MW on June 17. On Tuesday, it stood at 15,930 MW.
All the four units of the Ranjit Sagar Dam (RSD) project are running to bridge the gap between the demand and supply. The reservoir level at RSD is 504.67 metre against last year’s level of 511.97 metre. This is more than seven metre less than last year’s level on the corresponding day.
The coal stock at all thermal units in states is sufficient except the Talwandi Sabo power plant which has three days of coal stock.
As expected, the maximum power demand of Punjab may cross 16,500 MW in the coming days if no weather relief is seen. The PSPCL can draw 10,000 MW from outside Punjab, including power allocation and purchases, through the northern grid and for the balance 6,500 MW and above, the gap will be filled by the PSPCL from the power available in Punjab.
The PSPCL had earlier set a record of 3,435.4 lakh units of power supply on a single day on June 24, 2023 and had also set a new record of maximum power demand of 15,325 MW on June 23, 2023.
Meanwhile, hot weather conditions continued to persist in Haryana and Punjab on Wednesday, with Nuh reeling at 45.3 degrees Celsius.
Haryana’s Faridabad recorded a maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius, while Gurugram recorded a high of 43.6 deg C.
Sonipat recorded a high of 44.8 degrees Celsius, and Hisar 44.4 degrees Celsius.
Rohtak recorded 44.8 degrees Celsius, while Ambala and Karnal registered the maximums of 42.5 degrees and 41.4 degrees Celsius.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also sweltered under a maximum of 43.1 degrees Celsius, according to the MeT Department here.
Swept by a heat wave, Sangrur in Punjab logged 44.8 degrees Celsius, while Pathankot a high of 44.3 degrees.
Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Patiala recorded maximum temperatures of 44, 43.1, and 42.8 degrees Celsius.
Only a bit less hot, Faridkot and Gurdaspur registered a high of 42 degrees and 42.5 degrees Celsius.
With PTI Inputs
Pre-monsoon showers bring some relief in Amritsar on Wednesday. (PTI) 
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