PATIALA: While the government-run thermal energy units are underutilised, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) buys electricity from the independent power plants (IPPs). In the year 2019-20 alone, this cost was Rs 22,350 crore.
PSPCL officials said the IPPs offered Punjab far cheaper electricity than the state-owned plants, so the state had opted to buy from outside. However, the PSEB Engineers’ Association said the government-owned plants can generate cheaper electricity if run at more than 85% capacity. For the year 2019-20, the regulatory commission had approved a power purchase expenditure of Rs 21,009 crore but the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited spent Rs 1,341 crore more.
The government-run 840-megawatt Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Power Plant at Ropar can produce 200 lakh units (LU) a day and the 920-MW Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant at Lehra Mohabbat can generate 220 LU a day. In the year 2019-20, the Ropar plant generated 1,052 million units and Lehra Mohabbat 916 million units.
The gross generation was at plant load factor (PLF) of 14.29% and 11.37%, respectively, against the plant availability factor (PAF) of 91.06% and 98.49%, respectively.
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited director generation Paramjeet Singh said: “We buy power on merit and demand. The outside sources and IPPs sell it cheaper than the two state-run thermal-energy plants, which we use whenever there is a surge in power demand.”