Monsoon brings respite to UP Power Corp

Power demand dips by 2,000 Mw

The arrival of monsoon, albeit delayed, provided respite not only to the parched throats in Uttar Pradesh, it was a big relief to UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) as well.

With the dip in mercury from around 45 degrees Celsius to normal levels, the power demand has eased by about 2,000 Mw.

During the month of June, the power demand had been hovering 12,000 Mw and the power availability was flanking 10,000 Mw.

Now, the power demand around 10,000 Mw is a big relief to the state power utility, which had been burning the midnight oil to manage the yawning demand-supply gap by importing from the central sector and procuring from energy exchange.

“The power demand has eased by almost 2,500 Mw and there is sufficient availability of power in the state,” UPPCL director distribution Jawahar Lal told Business Standard.

Not long ago, the Corporation was incurring Rs 7 crore daily in importing power from energy exchange, while the total import from central sector was to the tune of 5,500 Mw.

He claimed the power demand would now remain in the vicinity of 10,000 Mw during the monsoon season.

However, during dry spells, the power demand again shoots up keeping pace with rising humidity.

UP will add another 500 Mw to power generation capacity in the stat sector by the end of August. Two 250 Mw units of Parichha extension thermal power plant would become operational. In fact, one of these units had recently started commercial power generation.

Now the state sector power generation plants have achieved installed capacity of 4,433 Mw. Parichha plant is owned by UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (UPRVUNL), which also runs Obra, Anpara, Panki and Harduaganj power plants.

Nigam Managing Director Dheeraj Sahu said the total installed capacity of Parichha thermal power plant had now reached 890 Mw. Another 250 Mw will be added to the state kitty by August end, when the 6th unit gets operational. The total project cost of these two units is Rs 2,920 crore.