As Punjab farmers resow paddy, power demand touches 15,000 MW

Aman Sood

Patiala, August 7

As farmers are transplanting paddy again in various parts of the state post flooding, the maximum power demand remained around 15,000 MW last week.

Today, the electricity demand was 14,377 MW while the power supply on Sunday was 3,167 lakh units. Yesterday, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) purchased 82.44 lakh units at an average rate of Rs 2.40 per unit. The supply from the thermal plants on Sunday was 280 lakh units. The experts said the maximum demand last year was above 12,000 MW.

Supplied 3% more electricity in july

During July, the PSPCL supplied 3 per cent more power than last year. Demand in the first week of August is 20 per cent higher than the previous year, which we have successfully met — Baldev Singh Sran, MD, PSPCL

VK Gupta, spokesperson, All India Power Engineers Federation, “Last year, there was less rainfall but the paddy was stable by August. However, the flood-affected farmers are still resowing paddy. As the crop needs to be irrigated regularly, farmers using tubewells.”

A senior official said they had a coal stock for 31 days at Ropar and for 27 days at Lehra Mohabbat. Private plants in Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo have a coal stock of 28 and six days, respectively. The GVK plant in Goindwal Sahib has stock left for only three days.

On June 23, the PSPCL set a new record of the maximum power demand of 15,325 MW. Last year, the maximum power demand was 14,311 MW.

A senior PSPCL official said the state never had so much coal stock during the paddy season. “The PSPCL is supplying more than eight hours of power supply to farmers without imposing any power cuts on domestic, commercial and industrial consumers,” he said.

Baldev Singh Sran, Chairman and Managing Director, PSPCL, said, “During July, the PSPCL supplied 3 per cent more power than last year. Demand in the first week of August is 20 per cent higher than previous year, which we have successfully met.”

“The PSPCL has arrangements to meet demand over 15,000 MW. The demand for next one month will depend on weather conditions.”