Summer pangs, Chandigarh seeks 5% hike in power quota

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Chandigarh, March 13

In a bid to ensure a smooth power supply to residents during the summer, the UT Electricity Department has requested the Union Ministry of Power to augment the unallocated power quota for the city. The UT Administration has sought an increase the quota from the current 9% to 14%, from April to September this year.

Chandigarh receives 345 MW of power to meet the needs of its approximately 2.40 lakh consumers. After getting approval from the ministry, the allocation would increase to 545 MW, a significant boost resulting from a comprehensive study on power consumption patterns. The study revealed a peak demand of 280 MW around 10 am during summer, escalating to 410 MW between 2 pm and 5 pm, compared to 426 MW last year.

Study on peak electricity demand

• Chandigarh receives 345 MW of power daily to meet the needs of its approximately 2.40 lakh consumers. After getting approval from the ministry, the allocation would increase to 545 MW. A study reveals a peak demand of 280 MW around 10 am during summer, escalating to 410 MW between 2 pm and 5 pm, compared to 426 MW last year.

10K more consumers expected this year

• Power consumption is likely to go up by nearly 93,458 kilowatt (kW) this year as ower consumers are expected to increase by nearly 10,000.

A senior officer of the department said they had already written to the ministry to increase the allocated power quota from 9% to 14% this year. “We are hopeful to get the approval by the end of this month. Last year, we received an additional 200 MW. With the expected allocation, we are optimistic of providing undisrupted electricity supply to residents throughout the summer season this time,” he said.

The department has also secured a regular supply of 30 MW from a Gujarat-based government agency from non-renewable energy sources.

Power consumption is likely to go up by nearly 93,458 kilowatt (kW) this year as power consumers are expected to increase by nearly 10,000.

As per the connected load growth projections approved by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission, (JERC), all categories of consumers will be requiring 17,48,987 kW by 2024-25, whereas the power consumption in 2021-22 was 16,55,529 kW.

The UT Electricity Department had filed petition before the JERC for the approval of the projections for the multi-year control period from 2022-23 to 2024-25. By keeping 2020-21 as the base year, the commission had approved a load of 16,86,035 kW for 2022-23, 17,17,183 kW for 2023-24 and 17,48,987 kW for 2024-25.

A maximum of power was approved for the domestic consumers and non-domestic consumers. The domestic consumers will need nearly 57,640 kW more in 2024-25 in comparison to 9,22,872 kW energy consumed in 2021-22. Similarly, non-domestic consumers will be requiring 33,863 kW more in 2024-25 compared to 5,04,304 kW energy consumed in 2021-22.

As per the approval, all categories of power consumers are likely to be increased by nearly 10,328 by 2024-25. The domestic consumers are likely to be increased by 7,321 by 2024-25 in comparison to 2,00,945 consumers in 2021-22. The commission has projected a growth of non-domestic consumers by nearly 2,588 by 2024-25, whereas the number of such consumers was 26,625 in 2021-22.