BHUBANESWAR: With the state reeling under unprecedented heatwave condition and Saturday logging highest temperature of 45.2 degree Celsius at few places, the peak power demand has crossed 6,800 MW for the first time this summer.
The real time data of the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) said the instantaneous peak demand of the state was 6,806 MW at 3.29 pm on April 20. While the average demand of the state was 5,970.82 MW, the highest peak demand was 5,696 MW on April 14, 2023.
The average demand of the state which was around 4,500 MW in 2023 had gone beyond 5,500 MW in the second week of April, 2023 due to heatwave condition in the state. The average demand in April this year is about 5,800 MW while the peak demand has crossed 6,500 MW. The load growth has increased by more than 1,000 MW, official sources said.
Attributing the consumer complaints about frequent disruption of power supply in different parts of the state to problems at the end of the power distribution companies (Discoms), sources in GRIDCO, the bulk supplier of power to the state, told the The New Indian Express that it has nothing to do with availability of power.
“The day ahead power draw schedules of the four distribution companies have been taken care of by GRIDCO. Even the peak demand of the Discoms are met from hydropower despite the restriction on the use of water by the Water Resources department,” sources said.
The Discoms projected a demand of 5,737 MW while their consumption was 5,789 MW. The little variation is because of the spurt in demand at some point of time in view of the sweltering heat. GRIDCO is getting more than 1,400 MW of thermal power from the state’s own source. The IB thermal power stations having a generating capacity of 1,740 MW is generating nearly 1,500 MW while the 600 MW unit of Vedanta dedicated to Odisha is supplying nearly 500 MW daily.
The average generation from hydro sources is about 550 MW and GRIDCO is mostly drawing hydropower during the peak hours, said the sources.
“We have made power banking arrangements with Madhya Pradesh and a few northeastern states. The arrangement with Madhya Pradesh is for 350 MW. The need has not arisen yet to invoke the banking arrangement,” said a senior officer dealing with power trading. As the availability of power from cheaper sources is sufficient to meet the demand, GRIDCO is drawing less than the power available in the central pool to reduce the cost.
