Union Minister R. K. Singh informs about 10.4% growth in energy consumption Y-o-Y from April, 2022 to February, 2023

The comparison of energy requirement and energy supplied for the month of February, 2023 and February, 2022 and for the period April, 2022 to February, 2023 and April, 2021 to February, 2022 is given at Annexure-I.

The growth in energy supplied/consumption in February, 2023 is 8% as compared to February, 2022 whereas growth in energy supplied/consumption for the period April, 2022 to February, 2023 is 10.4% as compared to the period April, 2021 to February, 2022.

The peak demand in the month of March, 2023 has been projected as 212 GW whereas only 209 GW has been reported till date in the month of March, 2023. The month of April, 2023 and May, 2023 have been projected as high demand period. During the current year 2023-24, the peak demand is expected to be around 229 GW during the summer period. Following steps have been taken for meeting the increased demand for power:

Measures have been taken to ensure the availability of the generation capacity. The generators are directed to complete the maintenance work of their plants well before the period of high demand. No planned maintenance will be taken during the high demand period (say April & May, 2023.

Monitoring and coordination with Ministries of Coal and Railways, on a regular basis, for increase in the production and dispatch of coal as much as possible.

All generators have been asked for timely import of required coal for blending purposes so that adequate coal stock is maintained in the plant.

All captive coal blocks have been asked to maximize the coal production to supplement the coal supply from domestic coal companies (CIL and SCCL).

Additional arrangement for gas for running gas based stations has been planned from GAIL, during high power demand months.

Imported Coal Based (ICB) plants have been issued statutory directions to stock coal and generate power during high demand period.

The State-wise power supply position for the year 2021-22 and current year 2022-23 (up to February, 2023) is given at Annexure-II. The marginal gap between energy requirement and energy supplied is generally on account of factors such as constraints in distribution network, financial constraints, commercial reasons, etc.