The city’s power demand soared to unprecedented levels on Wednesday evening, reaching 4,408 MW, the highest ever in recorded history, at 4.12 pm.

The maximum temperature in the Capital soared to 40.6 degrees Celsius, five notches above normal. “The delay in monsoon, combined with high humidity levels, has led to conditions wherein the demand for power has risen beyond expectations. After the events of the last fortnight, however, discoms are more prepared now and have made arrangements to meet the unexpected rise in demand,” a Delhi Power department official said.

As the demand continued to rise, the Capital overdrew anything between 50 and 150 MW from the Northern Grid at various points during the day. Meanwhile, BSES swung into action and made arrangements for an additional 530 MW to deal with the demand.

Hour-long powercuts were, however, reported in various parts of the city since Tuesday night. “There was no power for an hour each on Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon,” said Ankush Thakur, a C R Park resident. Other areas that reported powercuts include South Extension Part-I, Janakpuri, Uttam Nagar, Paschim Vihar and Mayur Vihar.

On Wednesday, loadshedding of 107 MW was carried out during the afternoon. The Power department, however, attributed this to low voltage and violation of the Total Transfer Capacity (TTC). “The Northern Regional Load Despatch Centre has set a TTC for any power transfer in the northern region. The limit, at present, is 3,500 MW. This means that at any given time, only 3,500 MW can be transferred from one region to another. When this limit is violated due to overdrawing by various states, loadshedding is carried out as an emergency measure to avoid the lines from tripping and plunging the entire region into darkness,” a senior official at the Delhi Transco Limited said.

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