CHENNAI: Power generation has been temporarily halted at Tangedco’s 600 MW Mettur thermal plant and 210 MW North Chennai stage 1unit due to technical issues.
“It will take approximately 48 hours to fix the issue in the 600 MW unit and operation will restart in the 210 MW unit within 18 hours,” a senior official told TNIE. “Other thermal units in North Chennai, Mettur, and Thoothukudi continue to generate power,” he said.
The disruptions have come at a time when the state recorded its highest power demand of 19,409 MW on March 22, and the demand is expected to go up across the state due to the temperature rise.
The issue in both these plants is boiler tube damage and other minor glitches, officials said. The power demand for agriculture has gone down by 1,000 MW and this will help officials in managing the demand. Sourcing additional electricity from private players through the power exchange is a common practice during summer, sources said.
“Currently, the average per-day power demand stands at 18,500 MW. The power demand in Tamil Nadu is projected to reach 20,000 MW in April,” another official said.
According to official sources, nearly 10,000 MW or 54% of the state’s total power is being bought from private entities. Plans are on to procure an additional 3,000 MW in the coming days, sources said.
E Natarajan, state general secretary, of Bharathiya Electricity Engineers Association, who expressed concern, said, “Procuring thousands of megawatts of power from private parties will impact Tangedco, consumers, and the state government, considering the power utility’s staggering debt of Rs 1.4 lakh crore.”