Page 3 - Power Supply

Ensure adequate supply, plan for future: Govt guideline for power discoms

The guidelines provide an organisational framework to ensure that there is no dearth of resources to fulfil the future power demand

Govt issues guidelines for advance procurement of resources by discoms

The government on Wednesday issued guidelines for advance procurement of resources by discoms to meet the electricity demand in a cost-effective manner. The guidelines, issued by the Union Ministry of Power, have been framed under rule 16 of Electricity (Amendment) Rules 2022, which were notified on December 29, 2022. The "Guidelines for Resource Adequacy Planning Framework for India" has been issued in consultation with the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the power ministry said in a statement. "The guidelines will ensure that sufficient electricity is made available to power the country's growth, by putting in place a framework for advance procurement of resources by discoms to meet the electricity demand in a cost-effective manner. "They provide for an institutional mechanism for resource adequacy ranging from the national level to discom level such that the availability of resources to meet the demand is ensured at each level," it said. As per the guidelines, the new ...

Chief Secretary asks power distribution cos to address supply problem

Amid statewide protests and gherao of Odisha Energy minister P K Deb's official residence here over frequent power outage during the scorching summer heat, Chief Secretary P K Jena on Monday asked power distribution companies to promptly address the electricity supply problems. Jena also asked the distribution companies to take immediate steps whenever power disruption is reported and to carry out quick restoration work, particularly after nor'wester or any other weather-related incidents. The issue was highlighted following power supply disruption and frequent power cuts in the state capital following June 8 nor'wester. Jena issued the direction at a meeting of top officials of the power distribution companies and energy department. The objective of the meeting was to find a solution to unannounced power cuts at a time when the entire state was reeling under scorching heat. The chief secretary also stressed on proper coordination between the energy department and private power ...

Thundershowers in Delhi on Saturday uproot trees, disrupt power supply

Thundershowers in Delhi on Saturday uprooted trees and snapped branches of many others disrupting power supply in some areas of the city, officials said. Power supply in some areas, including Fatehpur Beri, Sainik Farms, Chattarpur, Mundka, Najafgarh, Dwarka, Mahipalpur, Suraj Mal Vihar, Baljeet Nagar and Dilshad Garden, was disrupted at various lengths of time due to the rains, they said. The morning thundershowers led to a few instances of power disruptions in the affected areas in the city. These disruptions were primarily due to damage to overhead electricity lines, poles and transformers caused by uprooting of trees and breaking of their branches, the officials said. The combination of wet and swinging tree branches close to overhead cables is also a safety hazard and can cause short circuits, sparking and power outages, said a discom official. A BSES spokesperson said that discoms BROL and BYPL were on high alert to deal with the situation and pressed quick response teams (QR

Peak power demand hits historic high of 220 Gw, may cross that level soon

Figure is in sync with power ministry's estimate that demand would top 220 Gw in Apr-June quarter

Unseasonal rain, cool weather in April-May bring down Delhi's power demand

Unseasonal rains and a relatively cool weather in recent days have brought down the power demand in the national capital, officials said on Tuesday. Compared to the corresponding days of May last year, Delhi's peak power demand this year has been lower by up to 40 per cent, a discom official said. Last year, the peak power demand in the first eight days of May ranged between 5,409 MW and 6,247 MW. During the same period this year, the maximum demand ranged between 3,644 MW and 4,634 MW, the official added. "Last May, Delhi's peak power demand crossed 6,000 MW on 20 days, 5,000 MW on 7 days, and 7,000 MW once. Even in 2019, the demand throughout the month ranged between 4,277 MW and 6,461 MW," he added. Comparing the peak demands of April in both years, the official pointed out that the city recorded a peak demand between 4,170 MW and 6,197 MW in 2022 while it tapered off in 2023, with a range of 3,388 MW to 5,422 MW. The demand crossed the 5,000 MW mark only on three occasions. In

PTC India inks agreement for 115 MW power supply from VS Lignite Power

Power trading solution provider PTC India has inked a long-term power purchase agreement with VS Lignite Power for 115 MW of electricity supply. PTC India executed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for 115 MW with VS Lignite Power Pvt. Ltd, a company statement said. VS Lignite operates a 135-MW lignite-fired power plant in Bikaner district of Rajasthan. The power plant sources fuel from a captive lignite mine near the project. The company is presently selling power to various discoms (power distribution companies) through short- term power sale agreements. PTC plans to explore various opportunities to sell this power to state utilities under long-term, medium-term and short-term power sale arrangements. PTC has a portfolio of long-term PPAs with 10,000 MW power capacity consisting of coal-based, large hydro and renewable energy projects. This marks PTC's first long-term power agreement with a lignite-based power project. Rajib K Mishra, CMD, PTC India, said in the state

Adani Power inks an agreement with MPSEZ Utilities for power supply

The power supply agreement is for 15 years, the company said

Heat wave: States on alert; Grid braces for record peak power demand

While a few states have heat action plans, experts warn they are not enough

Torrent Power makes lowest bid for Indian power supply contract: Reports

Torrent Power quoted 13.70 rupees per unit price to supply 770 megawatts each for 45 days in April and May from two of its gas-based projects in the western state of Gujarat

Torrent Power makes lowest bid for power supply contract, says report

"The government is likely to award contracts for 1,100-megawatts to Torrent Power," the report said

India's electricity consumption grows over 9% to 117.84 bn units in Feb

India's power consumption logged a year-on-year growth of over nine per cent to 117.84 billion units in February this year, according to government data. The robust growth of power consumption indicates sustained momentum of economic activities in February. Experts had earlier said that power consumption and demand would register a substantial increase in March due to further improvement in economic activities as well as rise in temperature. In February 2022, power consumption stood at 108.03 billion units (BU), higher than the 103.25 BU in the same month of 2021, the data showed. Electricity consumption in February 2020 stood at 103.81 BU. The peak power demand met, which is the highest supply in a day, rose to 209.66 gigawatt (GW) in February 2023. The peak power supply stood at 193.58 GW in February 2022 and 187.97 GW in February 2021. The peak power demand met was 176.38 GW in the pre-pandemic February 2020. Experts are of the view that the power consumption and demand woul

Rising heat across parts of India raises alarm on another energy crunch

Peak demand for electricity touched 211 gigawatts in January, close to an all-time high last summer when heavy industry roared back from pandemic curbs

Sri Lanka returns to non-stop power supply after a year, at higher cost

After a year of load-shedding, Sri Lankans will get continuous power from Thursday, albeit with a hike in tariff in line with the conditions set by the IMF. The Sri Lankan government's move comes as the debt-hit country aims to secure a much-needed USD 2.9 billion tranche from the Washington-based global lender. President Ranil Wickremesinghe has directed officials to ensure an uninterrupted power supply to customers after the tariff revision is implemented, a statement from the President's Media Division said. The state power entity said that the power cuts ranging from one to 14 hours from January last year would end on Thursday. A 66 per cent tariff hike would be in effect, the second in the last six months. A 70 per cent rate increase was introduced in August last year. The government opted for a cost-reflective tariff plan as dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said. This will be a giant step in securing the IMF facility, he

No power supply disruption due to high demand, will import coal: R K Singh

Power Minister RK Singh on Thursday exuded confidence that there will be no disruption in electricity supply due to high demand during summer, and he will not hesitate to import coal and mandate thermal plants to run at full capacity for the purpose. The Indian power system has already met a record power demand of 211.6 GW in June 2022. During the current year 2023, the power demand is expected to be around 225 GW during summer, Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Asked about rising power demand, Singh told reporters in a press conference, "We are prepared. There is no question of being a disruption in supply if I need to import coal I will import it. If I need to blend, I will blend". He explained that blending (of imported coal) has been happening earlier and so he has no hesitation at all in blending. Singh assured that there is not going to be any shortage of coal. He stated that as far as section 11 is concerned if there is a need ...then I will do ...

Electricity supply restored incrementally in Pak after nationwide outage

Electricity supply was restored incrementally in Pakistan on Tuesday after a nationwide power breakdown left millions of people without electricity amidst fears of default and looming economic meltdown due to a balance of payment crisis in the country. The massive power blackout on Monday was the second such outage in nearly four months. Today, at 5:15 am, the system was completely restored across the country, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir said. However, major cities, including Karachi, Quetta and Lahore, remained deprived of power, the Dawn newspaper said. Dastgir said that approximately 6,600 megawatts of coal and 3,500MW of nuclear plants would take an estimated 48 to 72 hours to restart. Until these plants start running, there will be limited load management, excluding industrial users, he was quoted as saying by the paper. The minister added that there was no fuel shortage in the country. We are considerate of the electricity bills people have to pay and try not to ...

Raj govt making every effort to provide adequate power to agri sector: CM

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Saturday said the Rajasthan government is making every effort to provide adequate electricity for agricultural activities and instructed officials to ensure that power supply to farmers is not affected under any circumstances. If required, purchase of electricity from power exchange and other sources should be ensured, he said at a meeting to review the status of power supply in the state. Officials of the electricity department informed the chief minister that the state is not getting additional power supply from the power exchange at present because of the closure of some power generation units in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab and an increase in demand in other states. They also said that the power demand has also increased since Rajasthan has received no rain this winter so far, due to an increase in the agricultural area and a rise in agricultural power connections after the last Rabi season. According to an official statement, it was informed in

Winter chill pushes Delhi's power demand to 5,247 MW; highest in 3 years

The prevailing cold conditions pushed Delhi's peak power demand to a record high of 5,247 MW on Thursday morning, more than the peaks during winters in the past two years, officials said. According to the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) Delhi data, peak power demand of the city clocked 5,247 MW at 10.56 am. On Wednesday, the peak demand had crossed the 5,000 MW-mark (5,126 MW) this winter, they said. The peak demand of 5,247 is the highest so far this winter. It is more than the peak power demand clocked during the winters of 2022 (5,104 MW) and 2021 (5,021MW) yet lower than 5,343 MW in the winters of 2020, the officials said. The surge in power demand was mainly due to increased heating needs of the people that normally formed 50 per cent of the total demand, power distribution company officials said. A brutal cold wave swept Delhi on Thursday with the minimum temperature dropping to three degrees Celsius -- the lowest in January in two years -- making it cooler than several hil

Zimbabwe to have dark Christmas this year amid power cuts, high prices

To brighten the festive season, the mayor of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, recently switched on Christmas lights in the city centre. But for many, the event was just a reminder of two things they crave but can't get: electricity and a happy holiday spirit. Not even Mayor Jacob Mafume seemed confident that the capital city will see a sparkling Christmas. We do hope the electricity will remain during the time of the festive season," he said at the lighting ceremony, which in past years has been marked by a cheery atmosphere. "At least today we have it (power) and we hope that as we go forward the lights will not go out. With the threat from COVID-19 receding, Zimbabwe has loosened restrictions on travel and gatherings. But a buoyant holiday mood is not lifting the country which is also coping with the world's highest food inflation. Globally, food prices have spiked as a result of the war in Ukraine and Zimbabweans are hard hit. The southern African nation of 15 million people has the

Power demand to fall in H2, gencos' receivables to go up: Fitch Ratings

The LPS Rules regulate access to power in case of non-payment of dues by discoms to gencos