Gujarat’s open market power purchase doubles

Ahmedabad: Surge in demand of power amid reduced supply of electricity from private sector players has forced the state to step up power procurement from open market to meet the growing requirement. Gujarat purchased nearly 45 million units (MUs) or approximately 1,800MW of electricity from power exchanges on March 11, which is more than twice of 19 MUs (around 800MW) bought on the same day last year.
According to the data published by Western Regional Load Dispatch Center (WRLDC), a government of India enterprise, the state’s purchases from power exchanges stood at 45 MUs, 49 MUs and 31 MUs on March 10, 9 and 8, respectively. The amount of power bought by the state is double as compared to the same period last year.

Although power exchange consumers from Gujarat also include large industrial houses and other power distribution companies, state-run Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) accounts for over 80% of power purchased from exchanges.

“Reduction in power supply from private sector has compelled GUVNL to purchase more electricity from open market. The demand for power has already increased to 14,000MW and it may cross 16,000MW during peak summer season. This is likely to worsen things in days to come if the issue of reduced power supply from private players is not addressed,” said K K Bajaj, a city-based energy expert.

Government sources also attributed higher demand and lower supply under power purchase agreement from two private sector power companies to increased purchase from power exchanges.

Adani Power Ltd and Essar Power Gujarat Ltd have not been supplying the contracted power of 2,000MW and 1,000MW, respectively, to GUVNL under PPAs for quite some time. Meanwhile, the power demand in the state has surged to 14,023MW on Sunday with rise in temperatures.