CEA releases draft power demand forecast guidelines

Kolkata: The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has released draft guidelines for utilities to prepare uniform power demand forecasts to improve infrastructure planning. CEA said that the forecast should be prepared for the medium-term and long-term. The medium-term forecast should be more than one year and up to five years, while the long-term forecast should be for at least the next 10 years.

Draft guidelines

According to the draft guidelines, forecasts for power utilities should be carried out for at least three scenarios: optimistic, business as usual and pessimistic. The forecast should be prepared in consultation with all stakeholders, including industrial, agricultural, municipal corporations, drinking water departments, captive power plant owners, and other departments involved in planning and implementing electrical energy-intensive schemes, it suggested.

The guidelines want the forecasts to be prepared at the discom/state level at least, but more granular forecasts should be attempted at the zonal, circle, district, sub-station, and feeder/transformer levels if adequate granular level data is available. These granular forecasts are expected to be more useful in power infrastructure planning, the regulator said in its guidelines. By May 11, the power regulator wants feedback from the public about the draft guidelines.

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