Power situation in Bengaluru set to worsen in coming days

Bescom blames dips at generation units, big supply-demand gap

Bengalureans, who are already reeling under unscheduled power cuts this summer, could be in for more trouble in the coming days. The situation may worsen in next few months if the people do not save power now, say Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (Bescom) officials.

Bescom Managing Director Pankaj Kumar Pandey told Deccan Herald on Sunday that at present there is no load shedding in Bengaluru and the department was striving to meet the demand. “In the last few days, we have seen that the consumption of power has increased up to 4,700 MW during peak hours (from 6 pm - 10 pm and from 7 am - 10 am), against the average normal consumption of 3,900 MW. Thus, we request the consumers to use power judiciously,” he said. 

“The demand for power is high and we are trying to meet the demand. We are also purchasing 300 MW power every day at a cost of around Rs 4.50 per unit,” he said.

The demand for power has increased because of various reasons. Since the maximum and minimum temperatures in the City have gone up to 35 and 23 degrees Celsius respectively, the dependency on fans, air coolers and air conditioners has also increased. The demand for power has also increased because of the cricket fever. The T20 World Cup is on and the IPL season will follow. People are watching television for longer hours. They are even relying on UPS and generators to use television and air coolers, thus increasing power consumption.

Pandey explained that though there is no official load shedding, the unscheduled power cuts were because of technical issues at sub-stations and the transformers or even line problems.

Bescom officials attributed the power crisis to significant dip in power generation at the plants in the State.

The power generation at Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) has gone down by 60%. Sharavathi power station, which generates about 800 MW, has stopped completely following the fire mishap in February. The third unit of Ballari Thermal Power Station (BTPS) is yet to start functioning. Of the 2,700 MW nuclear power supplied by the Centre to Karnataka, Bescom gets 50% of it. The Bescom is getting 130 MW solar energy and Bengaluru is generating only 5 MW solar power from rooftop panels, the officials said.

The dependency on hydel energy has increased because of increase in demand. At present there is sufficient water stored in reservoirs. But this will not last long because of increasing summer heat and evaporation, another official said.

When contacted, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said they were chalking out plans to meet the power demand and would announce them soon.