CERC clears power corridor for State

Evacuation of power purchased from other states has been made easy with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) directing a free corridor for Karnataka till June 2013.

The State was finding it difficult to wheel the power it purchased from other states for want of a corridor.

The Power Corporation of Karnataka Limited (PCKL) had filed an application before the Commission to implead itself in a petition filed by Andhra Pradesh seeking availability of corridor to evacuate the power it had purchased.

Tamil Nadu had purchased power from National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and was trying to override or block the corridor.

“The impleading application was filed in March 2012 after we realised that the power purchased from other states was not reaching our consumers due to non-availability of corridor. Now the matter has been resolved and we have a free corridor to evacuate the power purchased by us till June 2013,” said Naveen Kumar, Managing Director, PCKL.

Sources in the PCKL said Tamil Nadu had contended that having purchased power from NTPC, it had overriding facilities with the Power Grid Corporation Limited. However, the PCKL claimed that it had booked the corridor in advance and hence had a right over it.

The favourable order by the CERC enabled the State to keep power problems at bay during summer. The power supply in most parts of the State was near normal without severe loadshedding unlike last year.

A senior officer from PCKL said it was probably first time that the State was able to meet its peak hour demand during summer. He said an agreement had been entered with Himachal Pradesh government to get 400 megawatt (MW) of power.

An agreement had been entered into with Jindal Steel Works to purchase 500 MW till 2013. Naveen Kumar, MD, PCKL, said the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission had approved the power purchase agreements periodically.