Power consumption spikes amid dry spell in Telangana
According to the officials, the power consumption generally comes down during the monsoon season in the agricultural regions.
The prolonged dry spell in Telangana throughout the month of August this year has resulted in a sharp increase in power consumption, forcing the state power distribution companies (discoms) to go in for purchase of power in a big way to meet the demand, officials familiar with the matter said.
According to a bulletin from the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), as on Thursday morning, the state received only 80 mm of rain throughout the month of August, which is a deviation of 63% from normal.
“The state received rains only for six days, as against a normal of 18 days during the month. Even this deficit rainfall was scattered in some areas, whereas many areas did not receive any rains,” the TSDPS bulletin said, adding that the situation would remain the same in September, too, with the rainfall likely to be below the normal.
As a result of the dry spell, the power consumption went up substantially during the month of August. “During July, which witnessed heavy rains, the average unrestricted peak demand for electricity was around 9,000-10,000 megawatt (MW). In fact, it was only 6,904 MW on July 27, when the state witnessed heavy rains,” a senior official of the Telangana state power transmission corporation (TS Transco) said.
Subsequently, the unrestricted peak power demand started steadily shooting up – starting with 10,340 MW from July 30. On Wednesday (August 30), it reached 14,428 MW, the highest-ever in the monsoon season so far, the official said.
“The average power consumption which was in the order of 170 million units (MU) per day in July, touched 274.6 MU on August 25. On Wednesday [August 30], it was 270.88 MU,” he said.
According to the officials, the power consumption generally comes down during the monsoon season in the agricultural regions due to copious inflows into the irrigation reservoirs and increase in the groundwater table. Even the domestic consumption is also low due to relatively low temperatures, as compared to summers.
But, the situation has been different this year, due to the prolonged dry spell in August. Several reservoirs, particularly Jurala, Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar under the Krishna basin, received very poor inflows, as a result of which, power consumption under 2.75 million agriculture borewells went up substantially. Due to increased temperatures, the domestic power consumption, too, shot up.
However, the Telangana power utilities are able to manage the demand by ensuring enough supply of power to all the sectors without resorting to any major power cuts. “We are ensuring that there is no gap between demand and supply of power, despite the fact that the power generating stations are not able to produce required amount of power,” the official said.
For example, on Wednesday, the power distribution companies (Discoms) reported that the demand of 253.30 MU was met completely. While Telangana power generation corporation (TS Genco) could supply 74.88 MU from its thermal and hydel power stations and the Singareni thermal power station supplied 26.91 MU.
“Another 112.11 MU was procured from central generating stations like NTPC and also from additional power purchases from the open access for power at Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) to meet the demand,” he said.
The Discoms are spending on an average of ₹7 crore for purchasing power every day. In the last three weeks, they spent around ₹1,000 crore on purchase of additional power from the open access to meet the demand, the official added.
If there are no further rains in September, there would be huge demand for power even at the Central power exchange from all the states. “As far as possible, we shall ensure that there will be no power cuts to any sector,” the official added.
