Despite increased demand for power in the state, Orissa will continue to maintain its status as a power surplus state and there will not be any load shedding, assured minister of state for energy, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak.
The state government has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 21 Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for setting up of power plant. Some of these plants are likely to generate power and provide it to the state, he added.
Making a statement in the assembly, Nayak said, the demand for power in Orissa was 2251 Mw and availability 2291 Mw during 2008-09. However, the demand has increased due to rural electrification taken up under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) and Biju Gramjyoti Yojana.
Out of 21 IPPs who have signed MoUs with the Orissa government, 2 projects are likely to provide power to the state grid in next couple of months. This includes 600 Mw to be obtained from Sterlite Energy setting up of 2400 Mw power plant at Jharsuguda. It has agreed to provide surplus power to the state grid by September this year.
Similarly, Bhushan Energy is also likely to provide 150 Mw power to the state grid by the end of this month. This will help the state to meet the rising requirement for power. Besides, steps are being taken to commission the third unit of the IB Valley project of OPGC. This is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2012.
He said, the transmission and distribution (T&D) loss in the state was 37.5 percent during the last fiscal and the power distribution companies are taking remedial measures to improve the situation. The measures include replacing overhead bare LT lines with AB cable in theft prone areas, 100 percent metering of feeder, transformer and consumers supplies, upgradation of transformers, implementation of the HVDS-LT loss system. While energy auditing is being done in an effective manner, installation of the pillar box metering system in theft prone areas is being taken up by the distribution companies.
Similarly, franchisee system has been introduced in the distribution network and squads are being pressed into service to check electricity theft. Awareness is being created to check power theft and information technology is leveraged for the purpose. The state government has set up special police stations and special courts to deal with energy related offences, the minister added.