CHANDIGARH: The power crisis deepens in Punjab as five thermal units out of fifteen units have stopped power generation creating a shortfall of 2,010 Mega Watts of power thus forcing the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to impose long power cuts across the state.
Sources said that in the five thermal plants in the state of which three are private and two are state-owned have a total of fifteen thermal units and have an installed capacity of around 6,000 MW.
While two units of 210 MW each at the state-owned Ropar Thermal Plant were not generating power on Tuesday, while one unit is under annual maintenance, the other went down today morning due to boiler leakage. At Talwandi Saboo one unit (Unit-2) of 660 MW is under annual maintenance since April 15, while (Unit-3) of the same capacity reported developed a technical snag due to boiler leakage today and stopped generation.
The 270 MW unit (Unit-1) at Govindwal is already shut down since April 11 due to coal shortage.
Sources said that the power demand is around 7,500 MW in the state however on Tuesday morning PSPCL was only able to supply 6,700 MW thus a shortfall of 800 MW. Thus the power corporation is forced to impose regulatory measures in several parts of the state by imposing long power cuts ranging from two to ten hours in rural and semi-urban areas. Also in big cities like Amritsar, Mohali, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Sangrur and Ferozepur, there are frequent power cuts.
On the availability of coal, there is a shortage as on April 24, Lehra Mobhat Thermal Plant had a coal stock of 6.5 days, while Ropar Thermal had a stock of 9.6 days, Goindwal can last for 3.4 days, Talwandi Sabo had stock for six days. The official report states Rajpura had a stock of 23.4 days and is better placed
than other thermal plants in the state. The power generation at almost all thermal plants is less than their full capacity ahead of the paddy season which starts in June when power demand will reach 15,000 MW. The daily coal requirement of all five thermal plants is around 75 metric tonnes while operating at the plant
load factor of over 85 per cent. Despite running at a reduced capacity, these thermal plants are not getting even half the daily coal requirement.
As per the power purchase agreement (PPA), the power generation companies both government and private have to maintain a stock for at least 28 days but it is never maintained.
A senior official said that till date during this month PSPCL has bought power worth more than Rs 250 crore at an average price of Rs 10.22 from open exchange. The prices in open exchange now stand at Rs 12 per unit.