Coal-fired thermal power still accounts for 62 percent of India's electricity generation.
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The country's electricity demand has continuously set new records as the use of cooling equipment has increased sharply due to the rising heat in India. Amidst the scorching heat, power generators have been generating electricity at record levels, meeting the country's highest ever demand.
According to India's Ministry of Power, the country's peak electricity demand has set a new all-time high for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday. According to a statement issued by the ministry, India's peak electricity demand had reached 270.82 gigawatts at 3:45 pm on Thursday, which was said to have been successfully supplied.
At that time, the temperature in the capital New Delhi had reached 45.3 degrees Celsius. The ministry described this level as the highest peak electricity demand in India's history. Earlier, a record of 265.44 gigawatts was set on Wednesday, which was surpassed in a single day.
The Ministry of Power stated that the demand for electricity has increased unnaturally due to the increasing use of air conditioners, coolers and other cooling equipment due to the rising temperature. The ministry's statement on social media said this was the main reason for the increase in demand.
India's total electricity generation is still dominated by thermal power, especially coal-based generation. Currently, 62 percent of the country's total electricity generation is generated from coal-based thermal power, the ministry said. 22 percent is generated from solar energy, five percent from wind and hydropower, and the rest from other sources.
India, the world's third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, has pledged to achieve 'net-zero emissions' by 2070, but it is still heavily dependent on coal for energy security.
Despite government claims that electricity is being generated at record levels, many users on social media have complained that power cuts are still occurring in their areas. It is said that the risk of local blackouts is increasing due to excessive stress on old power lines and transformers due to extreme heat.
Although intense heat from April to June is considered normal in India, which has a population of 1.4 billion in South Asia, both the intensity and duration of the heat have been increasing in recent years. Scientific research has concluded that heat waves are becoming longer, more frequent and more dangerous due to climate change.
According to the India Meteorological Department, the maximum temperature was recorded in Banda city in Uttar Pradesh state on Thursday. Although it was slightly lower than the 48.2 degrees Celsius reached in the same area earlier this week, the department said that the conditions were still extremely hot.
The highest temperature officially measured in India so far is 51 degrees Celsius recorded in Phalodi, Rajasthan in 2016.
Meanwhile, in a report released in April by the international air quality monitoring platform ‘AQI’, all of the world’s 50 hottest cities were in India. The daily 'heat index', which is based on various indicators including temperature, solar radiation, wind conditions, rainfall and humidity, showed Indian cities suffering from extreme heat.
