India warns of power use as demand peaks during heatwave<\/p>\n
Temperatures in the capital New Delhi hit 43\u00b0C on Friday.<\/p>\n
NEW DELHI: India\u2019s power ministry urged careful use of electricity on\nFriday (May 22), a day after breaking records for power generation\nduring an intense heatwave in the world\u2019s most populous nation.<\/p>\n
Peak power usage this week has broken records for four straight days,\nwith temperatures hitting 47\u00b0C, according to the India Meteorological\nDepartment (IMD).<\/p>\n
Workers on Friday scooped up dead fish floating on the surface of the\nSanjay Park lake in the capital New Delhi. The fish died as the water\nshrank after days of relentless summer sun.<\/p>\n
Temperatures in the megacity hit 43\u00b0C on Friday.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the power ministry said it had \u201csuccessfully met\u201d the\n\u201cfourth consecutive day when the peak power demand \u2026 reached a new\nall-time high\u201d, supplying 270.82 gigawatts (GW).<\/p>\n
But it also warned that the grid was being stretched.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough we are prepared to supply electricity as required, due to\nthe intense summer, let us all try to use electricity wisely and\njudiciously,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It had earlier noted that the \u201csurge in demand appears to be linked\nto the greater usage of cooling appliances\u201d.<\/p>\n
Thermal power - largely coal - accounted for 62 per cent of\ngeneration on Thursday, with solar making up 22 per cent, wind and\nhydropower taking up 5 per cent each and the rest coming from other\nsources.<\/p>\n
In addition to burning heat in the peak of the sunshine, India\u2019s\nminimum temperatures during the night are scorching hot - giving people\nlittle respite.<\/p>\n
In New Delhi, one of the main weather stations recorded a minimum\ntemperature of 31.9\u00b0C on Thursday, the highest for the month of May in\nthe city in 14 years, according to IMD data.<\/p>\n
The IMD said that average minimum temperatures were 0.78\u00b0C higher\nthan normal countrywide in April, and warned of above normal minimum\ntemperatures in May.<\/p>\n
MORE INTENSE<\/p>\n
India, the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has committed\nto reaching net-zero emissions by 2070, but remains heavily reliant on\ncoal.<\/p>\n
Despite the power production, followers of the ministry\u2019s X account\nreported that there had been cuts in their districts.<\/p>\n
The intense heat can overload old wiring and transformers, and cause\nlocalised blackouts.<\/p>\n
The South Asian country of 1.4 billion people is no stranger to\nsizzling summers, with routine heatwaves between April and June.<\/p>\n
Years of scientific research has found climate change is causing\nheatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.<\/p>\n
The IMD said the highest maximum temperature recorded on Thursday was\n47.6\u00b0C in the city of Banda in Uttar Pradesh state, 450km southeast of\nNew Delhi, moderately cooler than the 48.2\u00b0C earlier in the week. It was\n4.1\u00b0C above normal temperatures.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s highest officially recorded temperature is 51\u00b0C,\nmeasured at Phalodi in Rajasthan in 2016.<\/p>\n
In April, international air-quality monitoring platform AQI said its\ndaily heat index - made up of six measurements including temperature,\nsolar intensity, wind, precipitation and humidity - recorded that all of\nthe world\u2019s top 50 hottest cities were in India.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/india-warns-of-power-use-as-demand-peaks-during-heatwave-1779542011", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }