What’s with Peak Load?

All electrons are same, aren’t they?

What a strange question!

There is a reason for this.

And that has got to do with what is called peak load.

You see, if the entire world uses electricity at a constant rate, without fluctuations, things could be a lot quieter at power plants.

But that’s not the way how electricity is consumed.

There are times when a city could be using a lot less electricity – less us say on a cool Sunday evening when no one really needs an air conditioner – and others when the same city could be using a lot more – imagine a hot summer afternoon when all the factories are also humming!

The loads on power plants during times when the demand for power peaks are called peak loads.

The question for power plants is: For which scenario do they plan their capacity for? The obvious answer is: They have to plan it for the scenario when a lot more electricity is used – in other words, for peak loads.

But the challenge is, when the city uses a lot less power, a large part of the capacity will remain idle!

Many power plants overcome this by having a baseload plant that supplies a certain amount of electricity and a peaker plant that kicks in when the electricity demand increases significantly.

But the electricity from peaker plants are far more expensive to generate for the power plants compared to the baseload electricity.

Introduction of renewable power sources such as solar could in some cases take care of the extra electricity required during peak periods – if they happen when the sun is shining bright – and this is called Peak Shaving. Use of batteries is another – though expensive – way to take of sudden increases in load.