HYDERABAD: With the seventh unit at the Vijayawada Thermal Power Station still facing teething problems and no power generation taking place in the right bank station of the Srisailam reservoir, the State is facing a shortage of 5 million to 10 million units every day, even though demand has come down considerably.
The AP Transmission Corporation is still imposing cuts on industry and to villages.
With the winter setting in, demand for power in several parts of the State has come down by 20 mu over the last fortnight.
Demand, which was around 220 mu a day in the first week of this month is now about 200 mu. However, AP Transco which had supplied 222 mu on a single day in the last month is unable to meet the lower current demand, and power cuts in the rural areas and to industries continue.
Transco is unable to get enough power from third parties like AP Genco and the Central Power Grid. In fact, the latter has decreased allotment to the State by 7 mu a day.
On November 21, demand stood at 195 mu and the supply was 184 mu.
Genco was supposed to supply about 50 mu of hydropower as the two major hydro power stations -- Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam -- have enough water, but it is supplying only 11 mu. At Nagarjunasagar it is not utilising capacity to the full, whereas at Srisailam damage to units is preventing it from doing so.
And, as already mentioned, there are problems with the seventh unit of the Vijayawada thermal power station.
Though the chief minister has directed Genco officials to keep the unit ready for generation by the end of this month, it is not possible as the unit has not stabilised so far.
With this, Transco is losing about 12 mu every day.
Following the flood damage to the Srisailam right bank powerhouse, the State Government had asked the Centre to allocate 500 MW of power to the State from the unallocated quota, but it has so far not responded to the request.
As no minister has been entrusted with the power portfolio, this is is how matters stand.