Power cut likely as Haryana short of 500 MWs due to grid tripping
Haryana power utilities officials said that northern regional load dispatch centre (NRLDC) which ensures integrated operations of power systems and monitors system parameters and security in the northern region had sounded them about the loss of 500 MW on Tuesday
Haryana is experiencing a shortfall of about 500 MW due to tripping of high voltage direct current (HVDC) Champa -Kurukshetra link of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) on Monday.
Haryana power utilities officials said that northern regional load dispatch centre (NRLDC) which ensures integrated operations of power systems and monitors system parameters and security in the northern region had sounded them about the loss of 500 MW on Tuesday. “The shortfall from the grid will lead to power cuts mainly during the night hours,’’ said an official. Energy demand has seen an increase in the state due to intense heatwave and use of agriculture tubewells for paddy sowing, official added.
Officials said the power utilities catered to an energy load of 14,435 MW on Wednesday. “The utilities are managing energy demand in the day from the power exchange, a trading platform to buy and sell electricity in large amounts. The situation at night is different as power requirement is higher and there is no solar power available. The demand, consequently, goes up which means there are more bidders than power available at night in the power exchange. So, power is traded proportionately,’’ said an official.
“The utilities supplied about 546 lakh units of power to the agriculture tubewells on Tuesday, about 1,064 lakh units for urban supply, about 588 lakh units for rural domestic supply and 530 lakh units for industries,’’ said an official.
Haryana is expected to experience a peak energy demand in excess of 14,000 megawatts in June alone. The peak energy demand in 2023-24 summer was 13,055 MW and 12,768 MW in 2022-23.
Projections made by the power utilities have shown that the state is expected to experience a peak energy demand of 14,287 MW in June, 14,262 MW in July, 13,811 in August and 13,548 MW in September and a consequential deficit in availability.
The power utilities recently went in for purchase of 689 MW of round-the-clock short-term power at ₹8.22 per unit for June and 604 MW at ₹6.32 per unit for July. Power purchase for August and September will be decided later by the steering committee for power planning.
Besides, arrangements were also made to procure 1,740 MW through short term tenders and 360 MW through medium term tenders. Also, 393 MW will be procured from Power Finance Corporation Consulting Limited under the ‘shakti scheme’ and 110 MW will be allocated from central generating stations to meet the deficit.
Officials said that Haryana’s total energy availability this summer was 11,876 MW in June, 12,715 MW in July, 12,808 MW in August and 12,370 MW in September. Thus, the power deficit is expected to be 2,411 MW, 1,547 MW, 1,003 MW and 1,177 MW in June, July, August and September respectively due to an exponential increase in power requirement of agriculture tube wells due to paddy sowing and air conditioning load, the projections said.
