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This document by CDRI and Prayas (Energy Group) highlights the growing impact of extreme heat on India’s power sector, emphasizing the urgent need for resilience as heatwaves become more frequent and intense due to climate change. It examines rising electricity demand, infrastructure stress, and operational challenges affecting transmission, distribution, and generation systems.
The study proposes strategies such as enhanced demand forecasting, energy-efficient cooling, revised construction standards, and improved system flexibility through storage and demand response. While energy efficiency programs exist, they require significant scaling. Financial constraints, including ₹6.48 lakh crore in distribution sector deficits, pose a major hurdle.
The document calls for policy, planning, and regulatory reforms, urging cost-benefit analyses and multi-ministerial coordination. Immediate actions include consolidating 2024 heat response measures and preparing for 2025, ensuring long-term adaptability and sustained socio-economic growth.
Key points
- Extreme heat drives higher electricity demand, especially for cooling, stressing infrastructure.
- Transmission and distribution networks suffer reduced capacity, faults, and costly maintenance needs.
- Power generation efficiency declines in thermal, solar, and wind plants, worsening reliability.
- Sudden demand surges challenge operations, requiring improved reserves, demand response, and liquidity.
- Proposed solutions include efficient appliances, better forecasting, revised standards, and storage upgrades.
- Weak distribution finances—₹6.48 lakh crore deficit—hinder resilience investments, needing reform.
