LIVE TV
Odisha
Recommended Stories
For the first time in the last 5-years, the average daily power demand in July hits the 5000MW mark in Odisha. With the power demand soaring by over 23 per cent vis-a-vis July 2020, the State had to bank on costly power to meet the demand.
As per data with State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC), the average daily maximum demand in July this year rose to a high of 5,060 MW. The rise has been the steepest in the last 5-years. Last year July, the figure was 4098 MW as against 4162 MW in July 2019. The daily demand crossed 4000MW in July 2018.
What that raised the eyebrows is, faced with a steep surge in power demand, State heavily banked on the inter-state generating system (ISGS) to meet the demand. For drawing power from ISGS, Odisha has paid 85 paise per unit transmission charges to PGCIL. And in July, State had a withdrawal of a massive nearly 1220.8 MU from the ISGS. The data further shows that over 35 per cent of the State's load requirement in July had been from the ISGS.
Generation Lags Behind
As per data available, the installed capacity in Odisha as of date stands at 5,268.9 MW and the derated or discounted capacity has been estimated at 5258.9MW. In terms of energy generation from the derated capacity, data shows Odisha has the capacity to produce over 46,067 MU energy. The total energy consumption in the year 2020-21 stood at around 30,295 MU.
The power arithmetic shows Odisha is power surplus.
However, the energy generation data from Apr-July lends a twist to the surplus story of the State. It shows that Odisha could generate only around 7,969MU during the period. But the demand in the months had been higher.
Sample the July data: When the energy generation in July stood at 2204.1 MU, the requirement was estimated at over 3410 MU, as the daily energy requirement in July had shot up to touch 110MU from 89 MU in July 2020.
The SLDC data on July this year reveals that generation in the State on an average in July hovered between 3500-4000MW. But the demand in the month hovered between 5,300 - 5500 MW. In order to meet the deficit, the drawal by State remained at around 2000 MW.
The peak demand during the month touched the highest during the afternoon hours (1 PM) and during the night hours of 8-9 pm.
The Outcome: Due to the mismatch, in July, frequent outages and low voltage were witnessed across the districts in the State. And in order to avoid widespread load shedding, Odisha has banked on ISGS to tide over the power crisis in July.
"The high dependence on ISGS has been due to poor PLF (plant load factor) of hydel power plants in the State owing to low reservoir level courtesy poor monsoon. Moreover, the PLF of thermal power plants was also affected due to some technical reasons. Large dependence on ISGS is not a regular feature, " claimed a senior SLDC official.
Odisha Power Play
The high reliance of Odisha on power from the inter-state generating system belies the surplus status claim of the State. It poses many a volley: Is Odisha efficient in utilisation of the installed capacity?
