Energy crisis may continue till monsoon

Government is ready to purchase, but electricity is elusive

“Till Rain God smiles, the crisis will continue. Power is not available though we are ready to purchase it. The entire country is facing shortage,” said Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) Managing Director S M Jaamdar.

The MD told Deccan Herald that the present crisis is because power generation has not been augmented over the years. Power is not available in open market for purchase.
The Power Trading Corporation and NTPC could not supply power as assured, and hence, the KPCL is facing problem, he said.

The State which is facing worst situation in the country is Uttar Pradesh followed by Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

On a plethora of problems faced at the Raichur Thermal Power Station, Jaamdar said the efficiency of the Unit I and II has come down due to over usage of it in the last 25 years.
“We have to revive the units by spending Rs 400 crore. For that, we will have to close down the units for two years. We are avoiding this because it will further affect power supply. In rainy season we will have to repair the units,” he said.
He also said the Unit II and IV were facing problems in the last three days. But they would be set right by Wednesday night.

Coal mafia
Asked whether sub-standard coal is being supplied to the RTPS which is allegedly leading to the tripping of the units, Jaamdar said, “Sometimes we get coal mixed with stones. A big mafia is operating. They mix crushed stones with coal to give more weight. This is not a new problem. We deduct money to the suppliers at the time of payment.” When his attention was drawn to the complaints regarding low stock of coal, the MD said there was no shortage. The buffer stock was 2.5 lakh tonnes and it has reduced to 2 lakh tonnes because of the derailment of four wagons.

The daily usage of coal at RTPS is 18,000 to 20,000 tonnes, and the present stock will be sufficient for next two weeks, he said.

Tripping
He also said tripping of the units is normal due to technical reasons.  
“Recently the generation, which should have been 1000 MW, had reduced to 700 MW. When the wagons derailed, we maintained the generation using oil. While the country’s average power generation in thermal units is 78 per cent, at RTPS it was 90 per cent last month”, he said.
DH News Service