Induction cooking could add upto 27 GW to India’s power demand: Official

New Delhi: As more and more people switch to electric cooking in the wake of a disruption in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supplies, induction cooktops are likely to add upto 27 GW to India’s overall power demand, a senior official said on Friday. Commenting on the timeline, Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s (BEE) Director-General Krushna Chandra Panigrahy said that so far, one crore induction cooktop units have been sold, by the time the sale hits 3-4 crores, the power demand from electric cooking will add around 27 GW to the load.

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Speaking to the media on the sidelines of an inter-ministerial press briefing on West Asia on Friday, Panigrahy said that widespread usage of electric cooking will create an additional layer of demand during morning and evening peak hours. He added that the additional demand is expected to be in the range of 13-27 GW.

The statement assumes significance as India is expected to see a peak power demand of 271 GW this summer.

Govt defers maintenance of thermal power plants to meet summer surge

Speaking to the media, Piyush Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Power, said that thermal plant maintenance is being deferred to July to ensure ~10 GW additional capacity is available to provide uninterrupted power supplies during summer when India usually witnesses higher electricity demand.

Singh said that around 8 GW of gas-based power plants, which would otherwise be mandated to operate during summers to meet the power demand surge, will be sitting idle this year due to natural gas supply shortages induced by the West Asia conflict. Deferring the maintenance of thermal power plants of 10 GW capacity will help bridge the gap, said the Additional Secretary. Originally, 20 GW of thermal power plants were planned to undergo maintenance, however, considering the unavailability of gas-based power plants, 10 GW will remain operational while the remaining 10 GW undergo maintenance activities.

In addition, the government has already mandated imported coal-based plants to operate at full capacity to meet the electricity demand during summer.

Capacity addition plans

Singh also said that India is also going to accelerate the commissioning of under-construction power generation facilities, with plans to add a whopping 22 GW between April and June this year. According to the official, this includes 3,500 MW of thermal power, 10,000 MW of solar power, 2,500 MW of wind power, 1,900 MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), 3,461 MW hybrid, 750 MW hydro power and 250 MW of Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs).

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“India’s current installed capacity of over 531 GW reflects a well-diversified portfolio, with significant contributions from coal, renewables, hydro, and nuclear sources, with non-fossil sources exceeding 50 percent,” said the government in a statement.

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