Telangana strike affecting power scenario in AP

Hyderabad, Sep 25: As a result of the ongoing strike in Andhra Pradesh over the Telangana statehood demand, the state is staring at an unprecedented power crisis now.

Owing to the strike, the coal stocks at the power generation units in the state are depleting and there is a likelihood of power cuts being imposed due to the widening gap between power demand and supply.

According to figures available till yesterday, the demand- supply gap in power sector has widened to 27.11 million units.

The AP government has been purchasing 1,189 MW (28 million units) of power from outside states, including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Kerala. However, since it is unable to fill the gap despite that, the state is eyeing power cuts ranging from two to eight hours across the regions and sectors, official sources said.

The thermal stations of the Power Generation Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (APGenco) have reported a drop in production by 1,900 MW, as against the installed capacity of 5,000 MW due to severe shortage of coal.

Officials of APGenco briefed Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy at a high-level review meeting today that the coal stock position at their thermal stations, which was around 7.7 lakh metric tonnes before the commencement of the strike on September 13, has now come down to 2.61 lakh MT.

As the coal stocks would be sufficient hardly for the next five days, the thermal stations are facing the threat of shutting down.

"The thermal stations which can normally deliver 120 million units of power per day, are giving only around 75 MU to 77 MU per day," the officials explained.

Four thermal units, with an installed capacity of 600 MW, have been taken out for overhaul due to shortage of coal.

Due to shortage of coal, the National Thermal Power Corporation''s (NTPC) unit at Ramagundam in Karimnagar district has been generating only about 1,900 MW of power, as against its installed capacity of 2,600 MW.

It now has a stock pile that is only sufficient for the next couple of days. NTPC''s Simhadri unit at Visakhapatnam is also facing severe shortage of coal, resulting in a shortfall in production of 300 MW, the officials informed the Chief Minister.

Though the state government requested the Centre to allocate 500 MW of power from the Central Generating Stations, it was getting only 185 MW.

The APGenco has now placed orders for importing one lakh tonnes of coal from abroad.

Additional coal of around 1.4 lakh MT is also being procured from Western Coalfields while supplies from Mahanadi Coalfields have increased to 16,000 MT per day as against 10,000 MT earlier.

"The APGenco is spending Rs 100 crore for purchase of extra coal," the officials told the Chief Minister.

PTI