Soaring temperatures, glitches worsen power situation

Soaring temperatures have pushed up the demand for power in Karnataka, leading to a shortage of around 400 MW. 

According to a press release from the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), the Power Company of Karnataka Limited (PCKL) is taking measures to purchase power from producers within the State, to meet the additional requirement.

The release said that owing to glitches in thermal units, there was load-shedding in the State last week.

Power generation came down in the thermal units, between March 16 and March 21. Outages were seen in Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) and Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS). 

Power generation at Unit 1 of UPCL came down by 600 MW on March 17, due to seal oil leakage.

At RTPS, there was a loss of 500 MW, 250 MW at BTPS and about 150 MW from Central generating stations. Further, there was a fall in wind power generation (from 300 MW to 40 MW), leading to a huge shortage, the release said. 

There has been an increase in demand for power since March 17. On March 21, the UPCL unit 1 was restored, easing the situation. On Sunday, the State registered a peak demand of 8,795 MW, 503 MW more than that on March 16. 

Bescom managing director Pankaj Kumar Pandey has promised that there will be no unscheduled power cuts.