Odisha faces 500 Mw peak power shortfall

Fall in hydro power availability on the back of a deficient monsoon and power outages at two NTPC units has triggered a shortfall of 500 Mw of peak power in Odisha.

Suresh C Mohapatra, principal secretary (energy) said, "The peak power demand in the state has touched 4000 Mw and we are facing a shortfall of 400-500 Mw. A few units of NTPC at Talcher and its super thermal power station at Kaniha are under maintenance and this has hampered power supplies to the state. Gridco (state owned bulk power purchaser) has been asked to intimate the distribution companies (discoms) on power shortage. Accordingly, the discoms would restrict power supply at different feeders."

Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha Ltd (Cesu), a discom catering to power distribution in coastal and parts of north Odisha, has already announced its plan to go for a phase wise power restriction from 6 am to 11 pm. Cesu distributes electricity to about two million electricity customers in nine districts- Cuttack , Jagatsinghpur , Kendrapara , (part of) Jajpur , Puri , Nayagarh , khurda , Dhenkanal and Angul.

"Hydro power generation alone has dropped by about 400 Mw. Besides, three units of NTPC's Talcher Thermal station and one unit of its super thermal power station at Kaniha are under shutdown (for maintenance). The Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Captive Generating Plants (CGPs) have been requested to supply their supply power to plug the deficit", said an official source.

During peak hours, hydro power meets 1389 Mw of the demand while IPPs and CGPs together offer 800-900 Mw. The Talcher Thermal unit of NTPC usually provides 427 Mw power to the state grid.