Tamil Nadu to buy 2000 Mw

The Tamil Nadu government will buy 2,000 mega watt (Mw) of power from various sources to meet the increasing demand till May 2010. The demand for power in the state is likely to increase by nearly eight per cent this year, particularly during peak summer.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by chief minister M Karunanidhi to review the power situation.

“Tamil Nadu will receive 1,607 Mw as its share from the central pool from June 2010. Till that time it has been decided to buy power from other sources,” according to an official release. The chief minister also asked the officials from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) and others to speed up the new projects, which are coming up in the state.

Major projects include Unit-1 and Unit-2 of the 1,200 Mw project in North Chennai, which are expected to be commissioned by May 2011 and November 2011 respectively.

The state will also receive 1,607 MW from Kundakulam, Kalpakkam, Neyveli and Simhadri between June 2010 and May 2011, the release said.

According to a TNEB estimate, demand touched an all-time high of 9,000 Mw last summer and is expected to reach 10,000 Mw this year — 2,000 Mw more than its generation capacity of 8,200 Mw.

“Earlier, the power exchange rate was Rs 8 per unit. Now it has declined to Rs 4.50. So, we can purchase power at a lower rate,” a senior TNEB official said.