Tamil Nadu’s power demand declined by over 4% to 8,983 million units in August 2019, when compared to 9,378 million units in the same month last year, according to data from Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
From April-August 2019, the power demand in the State stood at 48,678 million units, up just 1.5% from 47,956 million units in the same period last year, as per the data.
Tamil Nadu’s peak demand during August 2019 stood at 14,576 MW, down 1.4% from 14,787 MW in August 2018. However, the peak demand increased 6.1% to 15,972 MW in April-August 2020, from 15,049 MW in the comparable period last year.
Experts attribute the decline to the broader weakness in economy. Tamil Nadu has the highest number of industries and one of the key hubs for automobile and auto-components manufacturing, which has been hit by slow down in demand. Companies like Ashok Leyland had declared production holidays for 10 days in August.
According to India Ratings, growth in power demand from States such as Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, which are the main manufacturing hubs, has been lower than all-India power demand growth of 6.7% in April-July 2019.
According to CEA data, Gujarat has seen a demand decline of 10.2% in August 2019, while Maharashtra has seen a decline of 5.1%.
All-India power demand declined 1% in August 2019 on a year-on-year basis.
The slowdown in power demand also pushed short-term power prices, which declined to ₹3.32 per unit in August 2019 from ₹3.38 per unit in July 2019 on Indian Energy Exchange.
A senior official of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation said the 4% decline in energy demand was overall, and not for industries alone.
The reduction in the energy demand was only for August alone which was quite normal because of decline in the consumer demand this year.
In fact the overall energy demand has increased by 1.5% with the peak power demand touching above 6%, he said.
(With inputs from R. Srikanth)
