Telangana power demand peaks to 13,168 MW

Telangana is powering its way into the record books, literally! The State has now set a new record in power consumption with the peak demand soaring to 13,168 MW on Friday, surpassing the peak demand of 13,162 MW on March 13, 2014, in undivided Andhra Pradesh. Telangana stands second in the country in terms of power consumption after Tamil Nadu, with Karnataka in the third position.

The State, which only had a total power generation capacity of 7,780 MW in 2014 and was power-deficient, has scaled up the generation capacity to over 16,500 MW in a span of just five years. “At around 7.52 am on Friday, the peak demand hit 13,168 MW,” said a senior official in Telangana State Transmission Corporation (TSTransco). On the same day last year, the power demand was 9,620 MW.

Officials attributed the surge in power demand to rising temperatures across the State as well as increased power consumption by the farm sector because of the ongoing yasangi season. In GHMC limits alone, consumption shot past 2,500 MW due to increased usage of air-conditioners following rising temperatures. As



the temperatures continue to soar further, officials are expecting to hit a new record in demand soon.

“We are fully prepared to cater to the increasing demand for power up to 13,500 MW. Following Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s instructions, we anticipated rise in demand during the summer season and have been making necessary arrangements in this regard,” said chairman and managing director of TSTransco and TSGenco (TS Power Generation Corporation) D Prabhakar Rao.

The demand for power has been on the rise since August last year following the inauguration of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) with about 20 lifts operating. “Of the total power demand, an estimated 1,300 MW is used for running the lift irrigation schemes in the State. Also, there are about 25 lakh agriculture pumpsets in Telangana,” another senior TSTransco official said. Due to availability of adequate water, the TSGenco is generating power from Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects and is using this hydel power during peak demand.