Polls make APTransco go the extra mile

Hellbent on meeting the full energy requirement of all categories of consumers for the next two months, the Andhra Pradesh Transmission Corporation (APTransco) is now trying to procure peak power from various sources, besides overdrawing from the southern power grid.

The APTransco management has projected an additional burden of around Rs 1,000 crore on account of additional purchases to meet the requirements of agriculture and other categories for 2003-04.

While at present APTransco has no problems in meeting the off-peak power requirements, the power utility expects tough times in the coming days when it comes to meeting the peak load requirement, especially the evening peak demand.

"Finding someone who is ready to sell power in peak hours is becoming more and more difficult as players outside the state are themselves facing difficulty in meeting local demand," a senior official of APTransco told Business Standard.

Simultaneous elections may have been a blessing in disguise for the TDP government politically, but it has made things very difficult for APTransco as every state government is now bent upon providing adequate power supply to its people and has hardly anything to spare for the other's requirements.

Depending on the daily situation, the power utility is already overdrawing 300 mw to 350 mw of energy from the power grid during peak time.

This comes at a cost of about Rs 4.20 for each kw/h (a unit) being overdrawn, according to the standing rates which are linked to the grid frequency.

Taking advantage of the situation, some agencies outside the state are raising the rates for peak hour supply, according to APTransco sources.

"But in the given situation, we are prepared to spend any amount to buy the peak power in coming days," said an officer.

Conscious of the fact that any shortage in power supply before the elections will create difficulty to the government of the day, APTransco successfully met the highest peak demand of around 6,300 mw during this month while the projected average peak demand for the entire month was put 7,260 mw by the utility.

But, sceptics pointed out that it was not known whether the peak demand was being met by measures like load-relief.

According to APTransco's projections, the actual peak availability (minus additional purchases) has come down from 6,425 mw in the first half of January to 6,020 mw in February.

Due to the meagre availability of hydel power during peak requirements, the state has to depend more on thermal power purchases.

Out of the total installed capacity of around 10,000 mw in the state, about 2,636 mw capacity which includes power generated from the Srisailam Right and Left bank power houses and the Nagarjunasagar hydelstation, has become idle due to non-availability of water in the reservoirs.

Additionally, two units at the Kothagudem Thermal Power Station which contribute 220 mw is under maintenance while another 94 mw of power from the central share is also not available because of maintenance related reasons.

"So even if all the other power units which aggregate 7,000 mw are run full capacity, we will be able to supply about 6,309 mw power (ex-bus or net supply after taking into account power consumed by the power generating station and sub-stations)," a senior official informed.

Besides, trying to get the KTS units on track much before the scheduled time, an additional 100 mw of power is being purchased by Power Trading Corporation (PTC) in the off-peak period.

Though the second unit at Simhadri, which produces 500 mw, was scheduled for maintenance work in this month, APTransco has requested the NTPC management to postpone it.

But sudden problems like the tripping of the first unit in Simahadri on Saturday evening is enough to make the power position precarious.

"We are also trying to purchase power from the newly formed Vidyut Vyapara Nigam of NTPC besides other regions for peak requirements and also to face emergency situations," said a senior Transco official.

The other important issue which is bothering the power utility is about the shift towards morning peak. Each day witnesses two spells of peak load, one in the morning and the other in the evening. Normally, the day's highest demand is recorded during the evening.

But, from last year onwards, the morning peak is slightly higher than the evening peak. Officials attribute this phenomena to increased agricultural consumption, which is a liability to the power utility in terms of revenue.

According to officials, at least an additional 300 mw power is being utilised by the pumpsets this year when compared to last year.

"Due to the water scarcity in canal systems, several farmers in Krishna, Guntur and Godavari districts have set up new powerful pumpsets replacing their old pumpsets," sources said.

The level of industrial consumption, the biggest revenue earner for the power utility, has remained stagnant over the last two years.

As the Transco set-up separates industrial feeders, industries may not face unscheduled cuts but government officials do not rule out the possibility of asking the industries to reorganise their manufacturing schedules, in the event of serious power supply problems before the elections.