The drastic fall in demand for electricity from bulk consumers during the lock down pushed the power sector in Andhra Pradesh (AP) to the brink of a collapse. The situation is so precarious that AP-Genco has been forced to put 4,000 Megawatts (MW) of thermal power generation on hold of the total installed capacity of 5,010 MW, according to AP-Genco Managing Director B. Sreedhar.
He told The Hindu that only one 210-MW unit of Rayalaseema Thermal Power Plant (RTPP) at Kadapa and one 800-MW unit of Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station in Nellore are operational as on Saturday.
Top officials said almost all the units of Dr. Narla Tatarao Thermal Power Station near Vijayawada and four out of five 210-MW units of RTPP were kept on stand-by as the demand from industrial and commercial establishments plummeted to an abysmal level.
A cascading effect
“The AP power sector has never been in such dire straits in at least the last 50 years. AP-Genco had to suspend a massive chunk of generation due to the fall in demand in April-June period (estimated to be 3,200 million units). It goes without saying that the effect is cascading”, a senior official observed.
But for domestic consumption, which is poised to grow a bit due to the rising temperatures, the very survival of power utilities would have been at stake. This is because bulk consumers who buy a major chunk of the power have shut down their businesses.
In a critical position
According to official sources, the power sector is already in a critical position with payables amounting to nearly ₹ 33,210 crore as on March 31, 2020. Even after deduction of subsidies and dues receivable from various government departments, losses incurred by DISCOMs stand at a whopping ₹ 19,965 crore.
Moreover, payment of fixed charges to power generators in spite of the unprecedented drop in consumption by industries and commercial establishments is a big problem.
The DISCOMs have accumulated losses of ₹29,000 crore by December 31, 2019, due to high-cost power purchase agreements and unavoidable payment of fixed charges to the thermal power generators for accommodating renewable energy.