Western Odisha Gropes in Dark as Power Grid Trips

The net shortage of power of the State is about 1100 MW against the peak demand of about 3600 MW, official sources said.

BHUBANESWAR: Power crisis further aggravated in the State on Tuesday evening with the tripping of two units of Ib Thermal Power Station and one unit of Sterlite Energy in Jharsuguda district. Four Western Odisha districts plunged into darkness due to a technical snag at Budipadar grid sub-station near Brajrajnagar in Jharsuguda district.

The affected districts are Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh and Sonepur. Two units (2X210 MW) of Odisha Power Generation Corporation’s Ib Thermal Power Station and one unit (600 MW each) of Vedanta Groups’ Sterlite Energy tripped due to a grid problem resulting in loss of power of about 800 MW. One of the four units of Sterlite is dedicated to the State. Already facing crisis due to restriction on hydro power generation and outage of two units of NTPC, the power shortfall got more accentuated after the tripping.

The net shortage of power of the State is about 1100 MW against the peak demand of about 3600 MW, official sources said.

The State Government has asked Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) to meet the power needs of Sambalpur town partially by generating hydel power from Hirakud Hydro Power Station. “All possible attempts are being made to bring power from other sources to ensure  limited supply to the affected areas,” sources in the Odisha Power Transmission Corporation said.

Latest reports from Sambalpur said power supply was resumed to the town and parts of Jharsuguda at about 9 pm through an alternative arrangement but the snag was yet to be rectified. “Power regulation to distribution companies will continue till the situation improves,” said sources in Gridco.

With normal rains still eluding, the State Government is seriously contemplating to impose Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 on the captive generating plants (CGPs) for maximising their power generation.

A decision to this effect is likely to be taken by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who is scheduled to make a review of the power situation of the State on Wednesday.

Imposition of Section 11 will enable the Government to get all the power generated by CGPs. Captive power plants exporting power through open access system will supply their surplus power to the State till there is perceptible change in the power situation, sources in Energy Department said.

The State has 18 CGPs with an installed capacity of 2,668 MW. On an average, the CGPs are supplying about 600 MW of power to the State. The Government expects another 200 MW from the CGPs after the imposition of Section 11.

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