CHENNAI: After a hot summer, demand for energy has been trending down since May. Apart from a sequential decline, an year-on-year dip in growth too has been seen in energy consumption.
Requirement of electricity in India surged in April and May 2022 as industrial activity increased and contact intensive services resumed operations fully following withdrawal of all Covid related restrictions. Besides, the sweltering heat during the summer contributed to the surge in demand for electricity, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
The demand for electricity eased from its peak of 135.7 billion kwh in May 2022 to 133.6 billion kwh in June 2022 and 128.4 billion kwh in July 2022. The trend seems to have continued with electricity demand during the first 14 days of August 2022 measuring 1.3 per cent lower than during the same period of July 2022.
"A sequential easing of demand for electricity was anticipated after an exceptionally hot summer this year. But the fall is greater than warranted by just a seasonal correction. This is clear from the slowing down of the year-on-year growth in energy demand too," finds CMIE.
After averaging at 18.1 per cent in the June 2022 quarter, the growth in electricity demand dropped to 2.3 per cent in July 2022. The requirement during the first 14 days of August 2022, in fact, was 0.8 per cent lower than the same period a year ago.
Besides electricity, demand for petroleum products too showed a similar trend. Consumption of petroleum products had surged during the first quarter of 2022-23. At 55.1 million tonnes, the consumption was at its fourth quarterly best. When compared year-on-year, the consumption was up by 16.8 per cent. Then, the growth decelerated to 6.1 per cent in July 2022.
