Punjab power crisis: Another unit shut, cuts in rural areas

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, March 26

Rural areas of the state today witnessed power cuts as one unit of Nabha Power Limited at Rajpura went down, taking the total number of shut thermal units to three. The unit developed a technical snag. It is expected to be functional only after five days.

Two units — one at Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Power Plant, Ropar, and the other at GVK Goindwal Sahib Thermal Power Plant — have been down for the past couple of days, as the coal shortage continues to threaten the state’s energy security.

Sources in the Power Department say unscheduled cuts ranging from one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half hours were imposed in several villages, even as the state government was allowed to draw additional power from the Northern Grid.

However, the total power generation in the state went down by almost 1,500 MW. Other than the three units that are down, the Talwandi Sabo Power Limited plant in Mansa was producing less power than its optimum capacity because of severe coal shortage. This plant’s coal stock will not last a day. If coal is not arranged immediately, the power situation could worsen.

The total power generation in the state — from thermal, hydro, solar and other renewable energy sources —was 3,853 MW today, though the demand was around 8,000 MW.

The state managed to get additional power from the grid, saving other consumers from unscheduled power cuts. Official sources told The Tribune that expensive coal available on the Power Exchange (it was available for Rs 17 per unit) prevented the state from buying power from there.

Baldev Singh Sran, CMD, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, said: “It is hoped that the situation will improve by tomorrow. This is because tomorrow being a Sunday, the power consumption of commercial consumers will reduce. The demand in the agricultural sector, too, is low now. By Monday, we hope to make additional arrangements for power.”