Reeling under 44°C temperatures over the past few days, Nagpur in Maharashtra has reportedly been facing frequent short-term power cuts, leaving people struggling in the intense heat.
Representative Image (IANS)
Reeling under 44°C temperatures over the past few days, Nagpur in Maharashtra has reportedly been facing frequent short-term power cuts, leaving people struggling in the intense heat. Citizens are blaming “unannounced load-shedding” multiple times a day without prior notice.
In the north, Punjab too is facing long power cuts amid rising temperature with the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) imposing eight to 10-hour outages in several parts citing power line repairs and system upgrades. The cuts are expected to continue until the last week of April, raising concerns among industrial and domestic consumers. Rural regions are also affected, causing problems for farmers relying on electricity for agricultural work, according to reports.
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The IMD, meanwhile, has predicted that heat wave conditions are likely to continue over major parts of plains of northwest, central India and east India, at least for the next four-five days.
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The maximum or day temperatures were recorded in the range of 40-45°C over many parts of east Madhya Pradesh, parts of Odisha, Vidarbha, east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and also West Rajasthan, Haryana Chandigarh, West Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat state, Madhya Maharashtra, North Interior Karnataka, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, the weather office said.
The night temperatures, too, are in the range of 20–26°C over plains in many states, it added.
The key reason for heat-driven power outages is obviously the surging demand for cooling.
Experts, however, say a combination of multiple factors leads to high demand for power, lower supply efficiency, and failing equipment, forcing grid operators to implement rolling blackouts to prevent a wider, uncontrolled grid collapse
Extreme heat triggers use of air conditioning, setting new peak demands, while high ambient temperatures make it difficult for equipment like transformers, substations, and underground cables to dissipate heat, leading to overheating, at times failure.
As transmission lines heat up, their ability to carry power decreases, reducing the overall efficiency. Thermal power plants—coal, gas, nuclear—are also less efficient in high temperatures because the difference between the heat source and the cooling water is reduced, they add.
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