Ropar, Lehra Mohabbat units to come to state's aid in paddy season

* Power demand likely to rise sharply but imports capped at 6,600 MW

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Water level low in Bhakra

* Hydel power generation may fall as water level in the Bhakra and Ranjit Sagar dams is low

* There will be an increase in maximum demand by 800 MW during the peak paddy season

* The power import from other sources is limited to 6,600 MW

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 22

With less hydel generation expected this year and power import from other sources limited to 6,600 MW, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) will have to rely on state-owned thermal plants during the peak paddy season this year. According to experts, the maximum power demand during the paddy season is likely to exceed 14,000 MW this year against last year’s 13,141 MW.

In the paddy season, which will be the last before the state goes to the polls, the government has committed eight-hour uninterrupted power supply. The PSPCL has already started making necessary arrangements to meet the demand.

The main power supply during the paddy season comes from three private thermal plants at Talwandi Sabo, Rajpura, and Goindwal Sahib. Besides power from the Ranjit Sagar dam project and its share in the BBMB power houses, PSPCL imports power from other sources. “The power import from other sources is limited to 6,600 MW as per conditions imposed by the Northern Regional Load Dispatch Centre for the safe operation of the grid,” say senior PSPCL officials.

”With the water levels in the Bhakra and Ranjit Sagar dams already low and the snowmelt estimates too on the lower side, the power generation will get reduced. Punjab gets about 4,000 million units of power from Bhakra power houses, but this year this may fall to 2,800 million units. Hence, there will be a shortage of about 1,200 million units in the paddy season,” said VK Gupta, a spokesperson of the All India Power Engineers’ Federation.

“Moreover, there will be an increase in maximum demand by 800 MW. All these shortfalls cannot be met by importing power due to the cap of 6,600 MW. This can be met by running the state thermal units during the peak paddy season,” Gupta said.

Senior PSPCL officials said at present, the state thermal plants at Ropar and Lehra Mohabbat were serving simply as standby units. Ropar has four units of 210 MW each and Lehra Mohabatt has two 210-MW units and two 250-MW units.

“At present, the coal stock in both the thermal plants is just sufficient for seven days and we have suspended the coal supply for the time being. However, we will review the situation in the coming few days and adequate steps will be taken to meet the peak demand,” said a top PSPCL official.

In the present scenario, all state thermal units may be required to run to their full capacity for about 20 days. The government allows paddy sowing from June every year.