CHENNAI: Amid increasing push by centre and state governments to produce more renewable energy (RE), grid curtailment has led to 70 million units of renewable power not being evacuated by the Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation (Tantransco) over the past one week, power producers said.
State authorities said decrease in power demand due to change in weather led to the drop in evacuating renewable power.
According to REPA (Renewable Energy Producers Association), the TN Load Dispatch Centre, which is the grid manager and Tantransco have been reducing power intake by curtailing the grid for three to five hours a day in substations, including Theni, Surandai, Veeranam and Aralvaimozhi, in the last one week to 10 days. This has resulted in eight to 10 million units of generated renewable energy going to waste every day, REPA said.
The non-utilisation of RE has come amid an increase in Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) for Tamil Nadu set by the Union Ministry of Power. As per the RPO for Tamil Nadu in 2025-26, 33.01% of the state’s power demand must be met through renewable sources. It is noteworthy that TN could not meet even last year’s RPO target of 29.91% as renewable power generation fell short by 3%.
REPA’s chief advisor K Venkatachalam told TNIE that the wind season has begun early in Tamil Nadu this year and will continue until September. “It is disappointing that the state-run power utility has started cutting off the grid and refusing to accept wind power from producers from the beginning of the season itself,” Venkatachalam alleged.
‘Unseasonal rain led to dip in power demand’
Former Tirunelveli MP and Indian Wind Power Association (IWPA) member S Gnanathiraviam, who also raised concerns over grid curtailment, told TNIE, “We are paying `2.50 per unit as wheeling charges to ensure grid stability. Grid curtailment still remains an issue.”
He urged the authorities to take immediate measures to address the issue. “To protect the interests of windmill owners and to move towards a zero-carbon future, it is important to procure wind energy without disruptions,” he said.
Responding to the concerns, K Indirani, Managing Director of Tantransco, cited the recent drop in power demand across the state as the reason for curtailments to maintain grid stability.
Citing that there has been a sudden fall in demand, mainly due to rainfall and change in weather, she said the state’s demand stood at 13,986 MW on Tuesday, while on Monday, the power consumption was 322.034 million units. “If we evacuate more power during low demand, it affects the stability of the grid,” she said.
She further pointed out that power from the base load power plants like thermal and nuclear are essential to keep the grid stable. “This is why we are sometimes forced to curtail power from other sources”.
Indirani, however, stressed that the organisation was giving priority to renewable sources in line with the government’s directions.