CHENNAI: With the power demand rising across the state, the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) has invited e-tenders for emergency procurement of 4,500 MW to meet peak-hour demand between October 12 and 31. According to the tender notification accessed by TNIE, the utility plans to buy 1,500 MW between midnight and 2 am, and 3,000 MW from 6 pm to midnight.
Electricity Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar said Tamil Nadu was not receiving 3,000 MW expected from the central grid, while the state’s peak demand has risen by about 3,000 MW compared to last year. “The increase in peak-hour demand and the shortfall in power from the central pool have necessitated short-term procurement,” he said.
Speaking to reporters after a consultation meeting on the state’s rooftop solar programme and green energy initiatives at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai, he said demand is expected to remain high in the coming months and the government would continue to procure power through various means. Even if all thermal power stations operated at full capacity, they could meet only around 4,000 MW of the state’s requirement, Nirmal Kumar said. Wind generation last week was only 40-60 MW, he added.
He said the country was facing its worst power shortage in a decade, which he attributed to a coal shortage. The state would urge the union government to frame a national policy to ensure adequate coal supply for power generation, he said.
On the rooftop solar programme, he said about 20,000 applications have been received through the portal since its launch, and around 1,500 applicants are eligible for subsidies. About one lakh rooftop solar systems had been installed across the state so far, he said.
Didn’t deny nod for protests against SIR: Minister
Nirmal Kumar on Wednesday said it was incorrect to claim that permission was being denied for protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. “Wherever permission is sought and granted, the police are allowing protests,” he said.
Referring to the recent protest by nurses, the minister alleged that former DMK minister Mano Thangaraj had intervened and diverted the course of the agitation. He said the nurses had initially sought permission to hold a one-day hunger strike, but the situation became complicated after the former minister joined the protest. “The government will hold talks with the nurses,” he added.
