Vedanta's TSPL pushes Punjab's power capacity to 5,400 Mw

With the commissioning of the first unit (660 Mw) of the 1,980-Mw Talwandi Sabo Power Plant (TSPL) by Vedanta Group, Punjab's total installed power generation, besides power from captive and Co-generation capacity, touched 5,400 Mw.

With a total capacity of 1,980 Mw (three units of 660 Mw each), the Vedanta Group aims to add one unit each after a period of three months, thereby completing commissioning over the next six months. All the 1,980 Mw power generated at TSPL will be supplied to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited.

TSPL is the first private sector power plant in the state which already has three state-owned plants with a combined thermal generation and installed capacity of 2,620 Mw

The 1,980-Mw TSPL has been developed by Sterlite Energy Limited, a Vedanta group company, at an approximate cost of Rs 11,000 crore. The power plant project will be the first-of-its-kind, hi-tech and non-polluting plant in Punjab and will probably be the greenest power plant in the country.

It is worth mentioning that the total installed capacity and generation of the state was 7,706 Mw as on March 31this year, out of which 3,620 Mw is from own power projects(including thermal & hydro), 1,110 Mw from Bhakra Beas Management Board, 469 Mw from captive and co-generation, and 2,507 Mw from central sector power projects.

Currently, there exist a gap between the demand and supply of power capacity in the state.

According to data, the peak unrestricted demand is about 9,399 Mw which is likely to rise to 10,009 Mw in the next two years resulting in a shortfall of 25 per cent. Moreover, the power shortage in the state is growing at the rate of 10 per cent a unit . Further, with 1,102 units, the state has highest per capita consumption of power in the country. Nationally, it is around 825 units.

In order to meet the shortfall the state government had awarded contracts to private players through competitive bidding to set up new thermal plants. Another one, Rajpura thermal plant is in the pipeline. The first unit of 700 Mw from the thermal plant developed by Larsen & Toubro will be functional from December 8. "Synchronisation with the National Grid will take some time, but the plant will start generating 700 Mw during the transition period," said a senior official.

With the SAD promising surplus power during the assembly elections, its leadership intends to cash in on the successful completion of power projects to reap dividends during the Lok Sabha poll.