Respite for PSPCL as power demand dips

Aman Sood

Patiala, July 17

Already reeling under financial crisis, the PSPCL has heaved a sigh of relief after the widespread rainfall across the state, which has significantly brought down the power demand.

NO MORE CUTS AMID PADDY SEASON

It was a challenging paddy season due to coal crunch, but we met the peak demand. Hopefully, there won’t be more cuts for the remaining season. PSPCL official

PSPCL insiders claim the power demand was expected to stay around 10,000 MW for next few weeks. Normally, the demand peaks till July 30 and thereafter, it starts declining. “Power demand for paddy remains till first week of October, though it is not that high as the crop needs less water with a drop in temperatures.”

At present, Ropar thermal plants have 31 days of coal stock, followed by Lehra Mohabbat (23 days), Rajpura (22 days), Talwandi Sabo (eight days) and Goindwal Sahib (just one day). Following the drop in power demand, the state has shut some thermal plants to save coal. Therefore, the PSPCL has one unit running in Ropar, none in Lehra, two each in Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo, and one in Goindwal.

Meanwhile, 18 hydropower plants are generating around 600 MW, the state is drawing power from the Central pool and banking sector to meet the demand.

Since the start of the paddy season in June, around 15 lakh tubewells pumped out millions of litres of underground water, which is already witnessing depletion of 2.5 feet annually. Experts suggest that every tubewell pumps out 30.24 lakh litre of water in a week, with an average eight hours of power supply. As compared to 13.66 lakh tubewells in the 2018 season, around 15 lakh were functional this time. As many as 108 blocks in the state are already under the “dark zone” because of the increasing area under paddy cultivation.