With the state likely to face a shortfall of 20-40 million units per day during the rabi season, the Andhra Pradesh government has asked power producers to divert the gas available with them to plants that run only on gas.
It also decided to limit hydel power generation to 15 million units per day to conserve water, purchase imported coal to achieve optimum inventory and to maximise power output from independent power producers (IPPs) by using alternative fuel like naphtha to meet the demand.
At a review meeting on Thursday on the demand- supply situation till next May, chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy asked APGenco to tie-up with firms supplying naphtha till May and plan its delivery in phases as per the requirement of the power generating plants.
He asked Singareni Collieries to supply an additional 2.5 mt coal to APGenco. At present, the base availability from all sources is 158 mu per day. With the proposed gas diversion and going for more naphtha, the total availability of power will be around 178 mu per day.
The expected peak demand during the rabi season is about 11,243 Mw and the maximum energy is projected to be around 218 million units on a peak day.
However, the diversion of gas will need the Centre’s consent. While Lanco, GVK, Spectrum, and Reliance can operate on naphtha, GVK (Extension) and Vemagiri can be operated with the gas diverted from GVK and Lanco.
Andhra faces a power shortage of 4.3 per cent and there is little possibility of buying power from other states as the situation in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala is equally bad with the states facing a shortage of 15 per cent , 7 per cent and 19.6 per cent respectively.