The new year 2025 has started and a decline in temperature has been observed in Delhi for the last one week. In such a situation, the city’s electricity demand has reached unprecedented levels in December. This is the first time that electricity demand has exceeded 5,000 megawatts (MW) in December. According to the State Load Despatch Center (SLDC), the peak demand reached 5,213 MW at 10:50 am on December 31. This is much higher than the December peak of 4,884 MW in 2023 and 4,964 MW in 2022.
The rising demand is in line with the city’s record-breaking summer electricity use, where peak demand reached an all-time high of 8,656 MW in 2024. SLDC’s forecasts this winter indicate that the city’s electricity demand could potentially exceed 6,300 MW, setting further records.
Within the BSES (electricity distribution company) areas, the peak demand is estimated to be over 2,600 MW for BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and 1240 MW for BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL). To be able to meet the increasing power demand, BSES discoms are using strategic power planning and advanced technologies.
Power to be sourced from over 2,000 MW of renewable energy, including solar, hydro, wind and waste-to-energy, up to 53 per cent of the winter demand of over 3,900 MW in BSES areas will be sourced from green energy sources.
Advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) tools are critical in accurately forecasting electricity demand across multiple time scales, incorporating weather conditions and other variables.
This forward-looking approach allows BSES to use mechanisms such as “banking” and “power exchange” to ensure continuous power availability despite unexpected surges in demand.
Additionally, banking surplus power with other states during winter and exchanging power reciprocally during summer enhances energy efficiency across all seasons.