Bhubaneswar: Like the 2018 winter, will power cuts return this winter in Odisha, especially when a Central Electricity Authority's report predict a 139 MW peak deficit in December 2019?
When last year poor hydropower generation was behind the power crisis in winter, the situation is not so this winter.
The hydropower generating reservoirs in the State like Hirakud, Rengali, Upper Indravati and Upper Kolab currently have a storage position, which is higher than the average storage position of last 10-years.
The storage position of Hirakud at present is 4.778 BCM (Billion Cubic Metres) vis-a-vis last year's position of 3.94 BCM and 10-year average level of 4.59 BCM. Similar is the scenario for Upper Indravati, Upper Kolab and Rengali. The current position is much higher than last 10-years average level.
But as per the Load Generation Balance Report (LGBR) 2019-20, Odisha will witness a peak deficit of around 2.8 per cent or 139 MW in the month of December 2019. However, it forecasts that the State will not see any peak deficit during the span of January to March 2020.
Significantly, the report predicts Odisha going to witness high energy deficit in the coming months from December 2019 to March 2020. It observed that Odisha will record an energy deficit of 20 per cent in December 2019, 15.4 per cent in January, 11.1 per cent in February and 14.5 per cent in March 2020, respectively.
The energy crunch the State will be experiencing during the period Dec 2019 - March 2020 will be ranging from 510 million units (MU) to 423 MU, the report added.
Though such high energy crunch during the months of Dec 2019 - Mar 2020 will not result in any power cuts, rather, the fallout will be felt on the rural electrification programme under the Soubhagya Yojana. Power supply to agriculture and Industries may also witness disruptions, experts observed.
Since the current month of December is predicted to witness 139 MW peak deficit, this will impact the power supply scenario in the State and power cuts may be resorted to meet the deficit, they added.
Even as LGBR's prediction didn't see any peak deficit in Odisha for Jan - Mar 2020, the forecast could go haywire as its peak demand prediction for the last fiscal (2018-19) had been around 21 per cent less than the actual peak demand.