Power purchase caught in gridlock

Non-availability of a corridor to evacuate power hinders procurement

The grand plans of the State government to purchase power from other states has hit a road block due to non-availability of a corridor to evacuate power.

The government has entered into an agreement to procure 448 MW of power from Himachal Pradesh.  However, lack of a corridor has affected the purchase so much so that only 48 MW of power could be evacuated. “The corridor available for Karnataka is the one meant for Andhra Pradesh also. Though the State availed of a 750 MW corridor by Power Grid Corporation of India, we are finding it difficult to evacuate the power. All the possible routes are quite busy,” a top official in the Energy department said.

New possibilities
He said the State government has signed two contracts with Himachal Pradesh, one to procure 300 MW and another for 148 MW. With the blockage of the corridor connecting Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh, the power utilities are now exploring the possibility of procuring power through old transmission lines connecting Kolhapur with Chikkodi.

The official said priority has been given to Tamil Nadu on the corridor which connects the northern states with Andhra Pradesh. The power generated by gas-based plants in the Godavari basin is transmitted through the Gazuakka corridor, Vishakapatnam.

The 400 KV high voltage direct current line connecting Nellore and Alamanthi has a carrying capacity of 1,000 MW. However, the power evacuated is just 100 MW. Similarly, the transmission of power from Chhattisgarh too has stuck at 25 MW only.

“The only respite is that the government pays for the power which it gets and not for the power stuck in the corridor,” another source said. To compound the problem, Goa gets its share of 100 MW through the line passing through Karnataka.

With no other go, the State government has decided to implead itself in an application filed by Andhra Pradesh challenging allotment of a corridor to Tamil Nadu.  The matter is scheduled to come up for hearing next week before the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Following acute power shortage, the government invoked Section 11 of Electricity Act, 2003 directing all the generators to supply power only to the State grid.