Govt to buy power to reduce demand-supply gap

With the State facing a severe power shortage, the Government has initiated measures to procure at least 895 MW from different sources to reduce the demand-supply gap in view of the ongoing school examinations and rabi crop season.

 The daily gap between electricity demand and supply has touched a whopping 3,000 MW in the state. 

 Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who reviewed the electricity situation late Monday night, directed the officials of Andhra Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation (AP Transco) to procure 450 MW from independent power producers (IPPs) at a rate of Rs 12.50 per unit, officials sources said.

 These IPPs are generating electricity using naptha and re-gasified LNG due to non-supply of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari Basin's D6 fields, they said. The state government has directed the power utilities to supply the electricity thus purchased to the farm sector free- of-cost in view of the ongoing rabi crop season, they said. Transco sources said the power distribution companies (Discoms) could supply only 247.5 million units of electricity across the state as against the demand for 310 mu. 

The average daily power deficit in March is estimated to be 94 mu, 80 mu in April and 64 mu in May. As on date, we are falling short of 3,000 MW of power every day, a senior Transco official pointed out. The state has started drawing 100 MW from the Jajjhar plant in Haryana since yesterday while another 100 MW is expected from Damodar Valley Corporation in the next few days. 

Besides, utilities have tied up with external agencies for supply of another 245 MW, taking the aggregate to 895 MW. Transco officials are, however, not sure for how long the additional power would be available from external sources given the growing demand in other states as well as other constraints like non-availability of power corridor. 

-PTI