In relief to Gujarat, Adani Power restores 2,000-MW supply to state discom

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In a major relief to state-run power utility Gujarat Urja Vidyut Nigam (GUVNL), Adani Power has restored the supply of 2,000 megawatt (MW) since the past 15 days, a senior government official said.

GUVNL has power purchase agreements (PPAs) of 2,000 MW with Adani Power, 1,000 MW with Essar Power Gujarat and 1,805 MW with Tata Power.

Essar discontinued supply from December 15 last year, while Adani stopped supply from January 20 this year without any prior notice to GUVNL or the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Authority (GERC).

"APL has restored 2,000 MW power supply to GUVNL since the last 15 days,which is as per the PPA signed with it," the official told PTI today.

Essar, however, has not restored its supply.

"It is a great relief for GUVNL withAPL resuming supply of 2,000 MW. Because of the discontinuation of supply by these private sector companies, we were forced to procure power at different rates from open market to meet ever-growing demand during the peak summer months," the official said.

The electricity demand had shot up to more than 16,000 MW before the state received good rainfall in July, raising concerns about meeting the rising gap.

"This resulted in higher demand for power from the agriculture sector. To meet that demand, we have to increase the hours of supply to 10 hours from the earlier eight," he said.

However, with the north, central and southern Gujarat and Saurashtra receiving good rains in past several days and the availability of 2,000 MW of power from Adani Power, GUVNL in not purchasing power the exchanges.

"Incessant rains in a large part of Gujarat over the last several days after a gap of more than a month, have reduced the electricity demand by more than 3,200 MW," the official said, adding that the demand has now dropped to 12,800 MW from the peak of 16,000 MW in May and June when the state was reeling under heatwave conditions.