Rain, holidays slash power demand in TN

CHENNAI: TN’s power consumption fell to 206.734 million units (MUs) a day from its average of 340 MUs owing to Deepavali and widespread downpours on Monday. According to Tangedco data accessed by TNIE, this was the lowest consumption of this year. The highest consumption, 388.078 MUs, was recorded on April 29. Total consumption on Sunday stood at 248.203 MUs and 287 MUs on Saturday.

A senior Tangedco officer told TNIE that since the first week of October, power demand has been declining due to frequent rains. Another officer said: “As we have better storage in all reservoirs, hydropower generation is good. So, we reduced power generation at thermal-power plants. We utilised only three of the 15 thermal units in North Chennai, Mettur, and Thuthookudi power plants. The remaining 12 units were off on Monday.

He said similar situation might continue till December owing to the northeast monsoon. As such, officers have been instructed to prioritise hydropower plants. Through these steps, coal could be stored sufficiently at the thermal power plants. A consumer in Chennai, however, told TNIE that there was constant fluctuation in power supply on Monday. In south Chennai, residents experienced frequent power outages as well.