In April, India’s electricity demand hit a new high as the country’s northern states endured the warmest pre-summer months in decades, sparking the country’s largest power outage in more than six years.
According to a Reuters examination of government data, power demand increased 13.2 percent to 135.4 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) while the electricity demand in the north increased by 16 percent to 75 percent.
The demand of electricity is projected to increase as India’s weather service predicts above-normal maximum temperatures over most of the country’s west central, northwest, north, and northeast regions.
This year, India and Pakistan have experienced excessive heat, putting more than a billion people at risk, according to scientists, who have linked the early arrival of an intense summer to climate change.
In April, as utilities tried to manage demand as coal supplies depleted, extensive power outages occurred as a result of the high electrical use. The shortfall in power supply was 2.41 billion units, or 1.8 percent, the most since October 2015.
According to government data, demand for electricity in Delhi increased by 42 percent in April, while demand in northern regions such as Punjab and Rajasthan increased by 36 percent and 28 percent, respectively.
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Sikkim, a small hilly state in the northeast known for its tea, saw a 74.7 percent increase in electricity demand due to rising temperatures.
Because of the higher temperatures, power consumption in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, two other Himalayan states popular with visitors seeking a respite from the heat of the plains, increased by more than a sixth.
According to the data, demand for energy increased by more than 25% in other northern states including Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, as well as Jharkhand in the east.
According to the data, seven states, including southern Andhra Pradesh, experienced their worst power outages in more than six years. The majority of the states affected were those in the north, which experienced extreme heat as a result of the heat wave.
