May face deficit of 22.9% & 21.3% in May, June respectively.
Punjab is likely to face a power deficit of 22.9 per cent and 21.3 per cent respectively in May and June.
As against the peak demand of 6,330 Mw in May and 7,510 Mw in June, the availability would be 4,880 Mw and 5,910 Mw respectively, according to data released during the 11th meeting of the Northern Regional Power Committee in Chandigarh.
According to the Punjab State Electricity Board, the state has an installed capacity of 6,841 Mw, while the demand is about 9,000 Mw, resulting in a shortfall of about 2,200 Mw. Besides, capacity utilisation is about 80 per cent and varies from time to time.
To fill the deficit, the state electricity board has signed agreements with Tata Power Trading Company, NTPC and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd among other for the purchase of 591 Mw. With these, there has been a net addition of 658 Mw to the generation capacity of the state during the past two years.
It is worth noting that in order to meet the demand, Punjab bought electricity worth Rs 6,000 crore from other states at Rs 6-10 per unit during the last fiscal.
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The state has also entered into barter/banking system with Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Orissa. Punjab supplies power to them during December-March and it is supplied back to Punjab during the paddy season.
The state has already suffered a deficit of 15.9 per cent in January and 22.3 per cent in February. Also, it is unlikely that new power plants or generation would be added immediately, increasing the dependence on short-term power.
Though the government is developing thermal plants at Rajpura, Gidderbaha, Talwandi Sabo, and Goindwal Sahib, these projects are likely to commence operation only by 2012. Mumbai-based Sterlite Energy Ltd is developing the 2,000 Mw Talwandi Sabo project in Punjab while GVK is setting up a 540 Mw thermal power plant at Goindwal Sahib.
Lanco was the sole bidder for the 1200 Mw thermal power project at Rajpura. These apart, stage-IV of the 250 Mw Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant is expected to be commissioned shortly.