The Tamesis
India has increased coal power generation after a severe heat wave this week caused electricity consumption to break records for four days in a row.
Temperatures in the country have peaked at 47 degrees Celsius this week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, warning that the heat wave is unlikely to abate for the remainder of the month.
Meanwhile, the country’s electricity ministry noted that “the surge in demand appears to be related to the increased use of refrigeration equipment.”
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On Thursday, thermal power (mainly coal) accounted for 62% of electricity generation, with solar power accounting for 22%, wind and hydropower accounting for 5% each, and the rest from other sources.
The South Asian country is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases and has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. But it still relies heavily on coal.
The Ministry of Power said it had “successfully met” “peak power demand… reaching a record high for the fourth consecutive day” with a supply of 270.82 gigawatts (GW).
But it also warned that the grid was being stretched.
“While we are ready to supply power as required, the heat of summer requires us all to use it wisely and prudently,” the company said in a statement.
Although power production is normal, followers of the ministry’s X account report that power has been cut in their areas.
High temperatures can overload old power lines and transformers and cause localized outages.
Hot weather intensifies
Amid the warnings, however, power demand is unlikely to cool as there are few signs that the hot weather may be easing.
Heat wave to severe heat wave conditions are likely to persist over the next six to seven days in the plains of northwest India, central and eastern India and parts of peninsular India, IIMD said on Friday. Reporting by Press Trust of India.
The agency said temperatures in the capital New Delhi will remain around 45 degrees Celsius in the coming days. The mercury hit 43 degrees Celsius in the big city on Friday.
Workers scooped up dead fish floating on the surface of the Sanjay Park lake in the capital New Delhi on Friday. After several days of unrelenting summer sunshine, water levels dropped, killing the fish.
At the same time, in addition to the scorching sun, India’s minimum nighttime temperatures are also very hot, leaving people with little respite.
A major weather station in New Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 31.9 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the city’s highest temperature in May in 14 years, according to IMD data.
The IMD said the national average minimum temperature in April was 0.78 degrees Celsius above normal and warned that the minimum temperature in May will be above normal.
record breaking temperatures
India, the world’s most populous country with 1.4 billion people, is no stranger to hot summers, with frequent heat waves between April and June.
Years of scientific research have found that climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.
The city of Banda in Uttar Pradesh state, 450 kilometers (289 miles) southeast of New Delhi, recorded a maximum temperature of 47.6 degrees Celsius on Thursday, slightly lower than the 48.2 degrees Celsius recorded earlier in the week, the IMD said. The temperature is 4.1 degrees Celsius above normal.
The highest officially recorded temperature in the country was 51 degrees Celsius, measured in 2016 in Falodi, Rajasthan.
In April, AQI, an international air quality monitoring platform, said its daily heat index – which is made up of six measurements including temperature, solar intensity, wind, precipitation and humidity – recorded that all 50 of the world’s hottest cities were in India.
- AFP, with additional editing and input by Vishakha Saxena
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