Puducherry Electricity Department has approached the Central Ministry of Power for allocation of 100 MW from the unallocated Central pool, in case Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) fails to supply power, superintending engineer-1 K Madhivanan told Express.
The move comes after workers of the NLC resorted to an indefinite strike opposing the Centre’s decision to sell 5 percent stake.
Official sources said that so far there has been no disruption of power supply from NLC to Puducherry.
The total power allocation for the Union Territory from NLC is 490.72 MW, out of which 404.72 MW is for Puducherry and Yanam regions, 80.50 MW for Karaikal region and 5.5 MW for Mahe. The requirement of Puducherry and Yanam region is 320 MW, while that for Karaikal region is around 80.5 MW. Puducherry had drawn an average of 110 MW from its allocated share of 124.41 MW on Thursday.
It is expected that other generating stations like NTPC power plant at Ramagundam will generate power to its full capacity and supply to the grid. If the plant enhances the power generation, it will enable Puducherry to meet the shortfall from Neyveli, said Madhivanan.
The power supply from the Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board (TSEB)to Puducherry is also uncertain. Even the southern regions of Puducherry are dependent on TSEB. In case of disruption in power supply, Tamil Nadu which is already facing deficiency of power will also try to get maximum power from the southern grid as well as from the unallocated power from Central pool. This may lead to difficulty in getting entire required power for Puducherry, added sources.
The Electricity Department has already alerted the people that in case of nonavailability of power, the department will proceed for cyclic load shedding.