The intense heat wave sweeping across large swathes of India has pushed the country’s power grid to a new level, breaking energy demand records for the fourth day in a row.
India crossed 270 GW of peak demand on Thursday, up from Wednesday’s peak power demand of 265.44 GW, the Energy Ministry said, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned that extreme daytime temperatures would continue throughout the week.
The IMD expects the intense heat wave to continue over the plains of northwestern and central India and neighboring eastern India.
In a post on X, the Department of Energy said that peak energy demand has reached an all-time high and has been successfully met. “Today was the fourth consecutive day that peak power demand (solar hours) reached a new all-time high. At 1545 hours (21.5.2026), the peak power demand (solar hours) of 270.82 GW was successfully met,” the Ministry of Energy said.
Solar energy provided 32% of India’s total power generation on Thursday afternoon. Also on Wednesday, it provided nearly 30% of total power generation in the afternoon hours before declining in the evening.
“This summer has been a test of India’s power generation system and grid resilience, with electricity demand repeatedly breaking records,” said Trishant Dev, deputy director of the Climate Change and Green Economy Program at the Center for Science and Environment. “At midday, solar alone was contributing about 80 gigawatts of power, nearly a third of India’s total power generation in that hour. While thermal energy remains the backbone of the system’s balance, solar, along with other renewables, does significant heavy lifting during daylight hours.”
“India surpassed 270 GW of peak demand at 15:47 today. Record heat and soaring electricity demand continue to test the power system. Peak demand of 256 GW in the week of April 20 has already highlighted how thin the margins are: solar surplus during the day, nearly 190 GW of installed coal capacity operating at full capacity at night,” said Disha Agarwal, senior program director at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
“With forecasts of a 270 GW peak in the coming weeks, and hotter nights becoming the norm, India must act urgently on four fronts. First, fast-track the commissioning of 9.7 GW of battery and hydro storage, planned for FY27, to use up surplus and cheaper solar energy during nights. Second, ensure adequate coal stocks are maintained, especially at plants far from mines. Third, expand the application of daily tariffs so that consumers using smart meters can Improving performance She added: “Fourthly, equip the disks with artificial intelligence-based tools linked to the weather to anticipate demand hotspots to prevent transformer failure.”
