CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu electricity department has started planning measures to meet the power demand that is expected to go up next year. The government expects the demand to cross the 23,000 MW mark in summer due to the examination period, IPL matches and soaring temperature.
The average power demand in Tamil Nadu is rising every year due to the increase of industries, shops and houses every year. In 2024, the average power demand in January and February ranged from 15,000 MW to 16,000 MW, which was at least 1,000 MW more than the average consumption in 2023. Even during the rainy season last year, the power consumption was around 16,000 MW despite the low use of electricity. In 2025, the power demand in the first two months crossed 18,600 MW in February.
The number of consumers has gone up to 3.51 crore this year till now, from 3.36 crore last year. There are about 2.5 crore domestic users, 40 lakh commercial users and 25 lakh agricultural connections.
The distribution transformers have been increased to 4,05,528 for hydro generation alone, while there are 1,949 sub-stations for renewable energy.
Industrial consumption is also going up with more industries coming up, and power supply is a major factor considered by the investors before investing in a state.
Individual power consumption, which was 1,085 units in 2011-12, stood at 1,792 units in 2023-24. This rose to 1,515 units in 2019-20 and came down to 1,454 units during 2020-21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it started rising after that.
Power consumption increases every year during summer and the peak demand is always recorded during the summer months. Besides heatwave conditions, students who write public examinations and college examinations study at night, increasing the use of lights and fans. When the examination begins for schools, the electricity department should provide uninterrupted power supply for the students and teachers. After the conclusion of the examinations, the power consumption will go up during holidays, too.
The Indian Premier League cricket matches also go on till midnight, keeping the fans awake, leading to the rise in use of electricity for television sets, besides the lights.
In 2020, the peak demand was 16,481 MW, recorded on March 26, while the highest demand in 2021 was 17,196 MW on March 29. A demand of 17,563 was registered on April 29 in 2022 and rose to 19,387 on April 20 in 2023.
Power consumption crossed 20,000 MW for the first time in 2024 and a peak demand of 20,830 MW was recorded on May 2 in that year. The year 2025 was one year which saw a slight decline in peak demand due to summer showers. The highest demand of 20,148 MW on April 24 last year was lower than that recorded in 2024.
In 2025, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board expected a rise in consumption to 22,000 MW during summer and made arrangements to purchase power from private producers. The demand crossed 20,000 MW in April, but summer showers in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi brought down the temperature, reducing the power requirements. Later, heavy rains in Chennai and the surrounding districts decreased the heat and the use of electricity.
During the summer of 2026, a rise of peak demand to 23,000 MW was expected due to the Assembly election campaign, IPL matchers and examination time. It was an El Nino year in which summer started in March itself, pushing the demand to over 20,000 MW. A peak demand of 21,724 MW was recorded on July 15 as the mercury showed a continuous rise from March.
There was no respite in September also when the wind energy production fell and forced the government to purchase power from outside.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
