As summer intensifies in Kerala, power consumption in the state has hit an all-time record. On Monday, power consumption was recorded at 84.21 million units.
Since last week, the power consumption in the state has increased by three to four million units, Deccan Chronicle reports. The previous record consumption was on March 19, recording up to 83.08 million units.
“The state usually has an average consumption of 79 million units during this time of the year,” Kerala State Electricity Board deputy chief engineer, P Kesavadas, told DC. The KSEB officials also foresee that high power consumption in Kerala will continue till close to the end of the month. According to reports, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the heatwave to continue in the state until March 29.
Though the average peak hour demand from 7 pm to 11.30 pm is around 4,000 MW, it jumped to 4,264 MW on Monday. The increase in usage of air conditioners and various coolers due to the intense heat across the state over the last week is considered the primary reason behind the sudden hike in power consumption.
Meanwhile KSEB officials have also assured that major dams will retain enough water and cautioned against alarm. According to reports, various dams in the state have water levels up to 46 percent of their total capacity. KSEB produces about 22 million units of power domestically from its hydel power dams each day. The KSEB has planned to purchase up to 80 million units power from the central pool to meet the excess power requirements of the state through April and May.