Cooling and Peak Electricity Demand

How hot summers push India's electricity demand to record peaks, what strains this creates, and how the grid can cope.

Every summer, as temperatures soar, India’s electricity demand hits new records, driven largely by cooling.

Record peaks

India’s peak electricity demand crossed about 250 gigawatts in May 2024, a record at the time, during intense heatwaves.

Why peaks matter

The grid must have enough generation capacity for the highest demand, even if it occurs only for a few hours.
Evening peaks, after solar generation falls, are especially challenging.
Shortages lead to power cuts and costly spot market purchases.

Economic costs

Building power plants for rare peaks is expensive.
Power prices on exchanges spike during peak periods.
Power cuts hurt businesses and households.

Managing peaks

Efficient ACs reduce demand.
Time-of-day tariffs, which India has introduced for many consumers, make electricity costlier at peak times, encouraging shifting use.
Energy storage like batteries stores solar power for evening peaks.
Demand response: paying consumers to reduce use during peaks.
Thermal storage: making ice or chilled water at night for daytime cooling.
Building design to reduce cooling needs.

The AC default temperature

In 2020, BEE required new ACs to have a default setting of 24 degrees, since each degree higher saves significant energy.

The evening peak

On a hot May evening, solar generation drops as the sun sets, but millions of ACs keep running. Grid operators buy expensive power from exchanges, and some areas face cuts. Battery storage and efficient ACs could ease this squeeze.

Thinking more power plants are the only solution to peaks

Efficiency, storage, time-of-day tariffs and demand response can reduce peaks cheaply.

Key takeaways

Cooling drives record summer electricity peaks, above 250 GW in May 2024.
Evening peaks after sunset are especially hard to meet.
Peaks raise costs, prices and risks of power cuts.
Efficiency, storage, time-of-day tariffs and demand response help.