CHANDIGARH: In Punjab, the industry which was closed on July 2, has been extended by another four days up to 8 AM on July 15 in view of the continuous shortage of available power.
The power cuts of various long durations are being imposed on domestic consumers. The feeders in the theft-prone areas are being subjected to additional long power cuts.
The power supply to the agriculture sector was for six and half hours. The official power cuts ranged between 5 to 8 hours on domestic consumers.
Transmission capacity has been increased by 500 MW during the day and 1000 MW during the night even then present demand and supply gap is more than 3000 MW whereas real loss due to Talwandi thermal during the day is 1400 MW and during night 900 MW.
The closure of all the three units of Talwandi Sabo worsened the power supply in the state.The Talwandi Sabo thermal plant’s claim that there is excessive breakdown due to higher ash content in the coal which is not tenable as
they are claiming coal washing charges.
Low reservoir levels in Bhakra Dam and Ranjit Sagar Dam are also generating less power. The total power supply from BBMB is 156 lakh units including 92 lakh units from Bhakra powerhouses. Ranjit Sagar Dam project is generating 103 lakh units. Only three out of four units at Ranjit Sagar are generating power.
At Bhakra reservoir water level is 1538.23 feet against last year’s level of 1592.82 feet down by 54 feet. At Ranjit Sagar Dam reservoir water level is down by 1631 feet against last year’s level of 1678, down by 53 feet.
A senior PSPCL official said that Tata Mundra(Gujrat) the private thermal plant which is supplying 200 MW less against a total commitment of 460 MW. The company is arm twisting to enhance its rate over and above PPA due to an increase in the price of imported coal. On Saturday the company supplied 43 lakh units against last year of 106 lakh units on the same day.
The power supply on Saturday was 2894 lakh units with a maximum demand of 12260 MW. The power demand in the state has touched 15500 MW but PSPCL has not been able to supply more than 13000 MW due to less generation within Punjab.
Senior PSPCL official said that it is a colossal administrative and planning failure when it was known in advance that one unit of Talwandi Sabo is down for more than five months and water level in reservoirs is down by 40 % as compared to last year.