NEW DELHI: Parts of India are facing power outages as extreme heat has pushed electricity demand to a record level of more than 270 gigawatts, prompting the government to urge consumers to reduce unnecessary electricity usage.
An El Niño weather pattern has brought above-average temperatures across the subcontinent during May. Residents in the manufacturing and information technology hub of Chennai reported nighttime power outages lasting between 40 minutes and one hour.
R. Hari, a resident of South Chennai, said the area had experienced repeated electricity cuts over the past two days, with outages occurring at short intervals. He added that the interruptions had made it difficult for many people to work from home.
According to national regulator Grid-India, India’s peak power deficit on Thursday night stood at approximately 2.57 gigawatts.
In a statement issued on Friday, India’s power ministry said authorities were prepared to supply electricity as needed but urged the public to use power carefully and responsibly due to the severe summer conditions.
Electricity shortages in India are especially common during evening hours because power supply at that time depends largely on thermal and hydropower generation, while daytime demand is partly supported by solar energy production.
Disha Aggarwal, senior programme lead at energy and environment think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water, said the ongoing heatwave and rapidly rising electricity demand were putting India’s power system under significant pressure, particularly as hotter nights become increasingly common.
She said India urgently needs to speed up the installation of battery storage systems so that excess solar energy generated during the day can be used more effectively at night.
Weather authorities have forecast “heatwave to severe heatwave conditions” in New Delhi and large parts of northern and eastern India from Friday until May 27.
Residents of New Delhi and the neighbouring city of Noida also complained on X about electricity outages during the night.
In the eastern coastal state of Odisha, residents and local media reported protests by consumers against prolonged power cuts occurring during both daytime and nighttime hours.