AMARAVATI: Increased electricity consumption due to onset of summer has crippled the power supply system in the state, forcing distribution companies to enforce power cuts. Power consumption in the state touched a record 11,570 megawatts on Friday against the total available power of around 9,500 MW.
The shortage forced the discoms to impose load shedding, with some rural areas suffering from 8-10 hours of power cuts for the past few days.
Sources said about 170-180 million units of power is available in the state against a day's peak demand of 235 million units. Energy utilities are struggling to purchase power from power exchanges due to higher costs.
Sources said power utilities have filed bids for procurement of power at 15 to 20 per unit, which would require huge amounts to purchase the entire balance requirement through power exchanges.
Surprisingly, the discoms are showing the gap between demand and supply at just around 10 to 15 per cent when the actual picture reflects a grim situation. The power utilities are unable to handle the situation as the gap is beyond 30 per cent, sources say. "We did anticipate peak demand of around 235 million units a day. But there is not enough power with the exchanges for procurement," said a senior official.
The state government's decision to lease out the 800 MW second plant at Damodaram Sanjeevaiah thermal plant at Krishnapatnam in Nellore district is also said to be one of the reasons behind the current crisis.
Similarly, generation from solar and wind power plants is just around 1,000 MW against the installed capacity of 7,000 MW. Hydel power generation has also dipped to around 398 MW against the total capacity of 1,901 MW.
With demand and supply gap getting wider by the day, power utilities have also enforced load relief on the industrial sector. Industries have been advised to utilise power only during day time till the demand subsides in the state. "Discoms have enforced load relief on the industrial sector to ensure reliable supplies to agriculture and domestic consumers," said energy secretary B Sreedhar.
He said that the maximum demand of 235 MU was successfully met on April 1 with the available generation resources and market purchases of around 64 MU. "There has been a nearly 45 per cent surge in demand this year as compared to the last two years. It is primarily due to resumption of economic activities in the state due to easing of pandemic conditions," said Sreedhar.
