Power deficit down at 10.8% in April

Increased power generation in the country has brought down the power deficit to 10.8 per cent in April, compared to 15.1 per cent in the same month last year.

At the same time, there was a marginal increase in the peak demand for power.

The peak demand (provisional) stood at 124,333 Mw in April, about 2.5 per cent more than against 121,220 Mw in the same month last year, according to figures released by the Central Electricity Authority.

The gap in the demand and supply of power came down to 13,434 Mw, against 18,326 Mw in the corresponding month a year ago.

“Incremental capacity addition has helped in bringing down the deficit. There was 15-20 per cent increase in coal imports this year, which also enabled higher power output,” said a Mumbai-based analyst who did not want to be quoted.

Last year, about 37 million tonnes of coal were imported. Even the power plants were running on a higher plant load factor (PLF) this year. PLF is a measure of average capacity utilisation.

The deficit was expected to come down to 3.8 per cent in the financial year 2014-15, the analyst added.

Power generation during April stood at 71,660.88 million units (MU), against a target of 67,777.77 MU. In the same month last year, the achieved generation stood at 67,104.81 MU, against a target of 65,239.95 MU.

About 735 Mw of capacity was added in the month, which was the set target. In April last year, only 250 Mw capacity addition was achieved against a target of 1,190 Mw.

At the end of April 2011, the northern region had a power deficit of 4.7 per cent with an availability of 19,688 Mw, the deficit for the western region stood at 11.6 per cent with an availability of 21,280 MW. The southern region had a deficit of 6.9 per cent with an availability of 19,843 Mw, while the eastern region had a deficit of 4.3 per cent with an availability of 69,187 Mw. All these figures are provisional.