The minister claimed that despite the heavy demand, no power cut had been imposed on any category of consumers and supply to agriculture pumpsets is also being maintained as per schedule.Punjab Power Minister, Harbhajan Singh, on Saturday said that the state had witnessed an unprecedented surge in power demand due to a sharp rise in temperature since March this year.
“During April this year, PSPCL has met upto 10000 MW of peak power demand, which was 46% higher than last year during the same period. This extraordinary power demand has continued in May, and a peak power demand of 10,900 MW has been met by PSPCL so far, which is 60% higher than what we witnessed in May last year,” Singh said.
Punjab’s electricity demand had touched a record high of 10,495 MW on May 12 (Thursday), prompting the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to appeal to consumers to adopt austerity measures.
According to PSPCL officials, Thursday’s peak power demand was 65% more than what the state had witnessed on the same day last year, at 6374 MW. As per details, the peak demand was 10,401 MW on May 10 (Tuesday), compared to 6,640 on the same day last year — working out to jump of 57%. The demand fell slightly on May 11 (Wednesday) and settled at 10,063 MW, compared to 6546 MW witnessed on the same day last year — a jump of 54%. On Thursday, the peak demand shot upto 10,495
Best of Express Premium
MW again. Information released also revealed that from May 1-May 12, the total energy supplied by PSPCL was 2483 million units (MUs) compared to 1762 MUs last year, an increase of around 41%.
The minister claimed that despite the heavy demand, no power cut had been imposed on any category of consumers and supply to agriculture pumpsets is also being maintained as per schedule.
In a press release issued on Saturday, the Punjab power minister further stated that all thermal units in the state were operating at full capacity, except one unit of GHTP Lehra Mohabbat, which had to be shut down last night due to a technical snag. Both units of NPL Rajpura were operational and a TSPL unit of 660 MW, which had so far stayed shut for annual overhauling, was back up and running since Saturday evening. All the four units of GGSSTP Ropar were available, with one unit at the thermal plant on standby to conserve coal for forthcoming paddy season. Further, two units of GHTP Lehra Mohabbat were currently running, with one unit on standby.
Power minister Singh said that last night, Lehra Mohabbat unit number 2, which produces 210 MW of electricity, developed a technical snag in its electrostatic precipitators. A team of BHEL Engineers from Chandigarh have reached the site and BHEL experts from the head office and design engineers from Ranipet were expected at Lehra Mohabbat on Sunday to assess the damage and to provide help. A committee has been formed to analyse the causes of the snag and to take remedial action, said the minister.
The Power Minister assured the people of the state that PSPCL will make all efforts to bring the unit back in operation at the earliest. PSPCL has been directed to make adequate arrangements for coal and power required in the state during paddy season and were in regular touch with Union Power and Coal Ministries.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
