India hit a record high demand for power over the weekend as a heat wave hit swaths of the world’s most populous nation.
The surge, driven by household air conditioning use, points to the challenges facing India as it grapples with fossil fuel shortages from the Iran war.
New Delhi ramped up coal and gas-fired power generation amid the heat wave, but renewable energy sources also proved critical to meeting the need for electricity: Solar accounted for a fifth of total generation during the time of peak demand on Saturday, The Times of India reported.
The government expects electricity consumption to keep rising this year and plans to rely more on coal and hydropower.
