Severe cold in Delhi takes power consumption to all-time high

Cold weather conditions in the Indian capital New Delhi and surrounding area pushed peak winter power demand to an all-time high on Wednesday (January 10) morning. The power demand was at 5611 megawatts, reported Press Trust of India citing officials from power distribution companies.

The officials reportedly said that as per real-time data collected by State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) in Delhi, the peak power demand was reached at 11:08 am on Wednesday.

The previous all time high was recorded last Friday. It was 5559 MW.

Normally in New Delhi and the Nation Capital Region (NCR) power demand goes down in winter months, but in the coldest months (December and January) the demand shows an uptick as electricity consumers use power for heating purposes.

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On Friday last week, minimum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 7.1 degrees Celsius. Monday was the coldest day of the month so far with temperatures dropping to 5.3 degrees Celsius.

Delhi state government has already extended winter break for primary school students till fifth grade. The officials have already declared that the winter break will go on till January 12.

Atishi, minister in Delhi state government took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) a few days ago to make the official announcement.

"Schools in Delhi will remain closed for the next 5 days due to the prevailing cold weather conditions, for students from Nursery to Class 5," she posted.

Delhi along with other states in North India like Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab are witnessing severe cold weather. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that cold weather will persist for some time followed by rise in temperature.

(With inputs from agencies)