Govt mulling power banking to meet energy need in May, June

Bhubaneswar: Officials of Odisha Energy department are likely to meet in the 3rd or 4th week of April to chalk out plans for electricity procurement to meet the demand-supply gap and ensure 24X7 supply to the people of the State during the months of May and June.

Sangramjit Naik, Additional Secretary, Energy dept, said, “In April 3rd or 4th week, we will discuss on power supply during peak period of May and June.”

Officials of Water Resources, OHPC and Gridco will also attend the meeting where import 400 MW power from Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh through power banking will be discussed, sources said.

At present, the State requires 3700-4100 MW power during peak hours. The government is already importing 500 MW from Punjab and Delhi through power banking, the sources added.

Though the State government had earlier announced there will be no power cuts till April 30, disruption of electricity supply is occurring frequently in both rural and urban areas of the State.

DK Ray, Former Chairman, OERC, said, “Disruption in power supply is happening at several places. If there is more than 200 or 300 MW gap, it cannot be filled.”