BENGALURU: The state government on Friday invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act to procure power from private sources. With that, the state government can immediately procure 800-1,000 MW of power from private parties. As per KPTCL records, independent power producers are generating 18,237.9 MW of power as on March 31, 2023.
The decision to invoke Section 11 was taken at a meeting chaired by CM Siddaramaiah to take stock of the power crisis. The CM directed heads of all energy supply companies to monitor the situation and prioritise allocation. He directed officials to ensure five hours of staggered supply to farmers. He said the demand has shot up because of the monsoon deficit of 40-50%, high demand from irrigation pumpsets (IP) and strong post-Covid recovery in the economy.
Department sources said, “Already, rationing of power has started. After the Gruha Jyothi scheme, power consumption has increased, while power usage has gone up because of the increase in temperature.”
As per KPCL data, power consumption in the state between October 1 and 12 has been 2,971.93 million units. The average consumption in October is 247.66 MU as compared to last year’s 159.86 MU. “There has been a 40% increase in power generation, compared to last year, but not installed capacity. But this increase has not helped meet the demand. In 2013, the generation capacity was 14,000MW. It increased to 28,000MW in 2018 and jumped to 32,000MW in 2023,” an official explained.
The CM said that last year, 9,000-10,000MW was consumed during this time. But this year, it has shot up to 15,000 to 16,000 MW. At the meeting, it was decided that since hydel generation is down by 3,000MU, it will be used only during peak hours. The CM was informed that additional 2 lakh MT of coal per month was obtained from MCL-RSR in September, while tenders for imported coal of 2.5 lakh MT have been called.
The KERC has also been informed of procuring power through short and long term tenders and through Bilateral swaps. Siddaramaiah said a Karnataka Power Corporation gas plant of 370 MW capacity is being operationalised. In the first phase, 1300MW power was being added through decentralised solar power generation, also additional 300MW solar in Pavagada and 500MW in Kalaburgi.