Don’t resort to power cuts, CM tells Energy department

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday directed officials of the Energy department not to resort to load-shedding in the state.

According to the chief minister’s office (CMO), Kumaraswamy has asked the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) to ensure that there are no power cuts, despite the prevailing coal crisis.

As the Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) has been hit by acute coal shortage, the chief minister has asked the department to increase power generation from other sources like solar and hydel.

Kumaraswamy was supposed to hold a meeting with the department officials on Wednesday. But he cancelled the meeting owing to ill-health.

While it was rumoured that there would be scheduled load shedding after Deepavali, rural areas have been witnessing power outages for the last few days.

Kumaraswamy had blamed the Centre, the erstwhile BJP government and the department officials for the present power crisis.

With four units down, RTPS is presently generating 811 MW as against the installed capacity of 1,720 MW. With zero stock, RTPS is functioning on limited supply of coal from the Singareni Collieries Company Limited and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited.

Officials said RTPS had been receiving four rakes of coal, which is just sufficient to feed the four units.

The Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS), with an installed capacity of 1,700 MW, is generating only 430 MW. Though the third unit has been commissioned, it is yet to start generating power. Presently, only one unit out of two is functioning.

The Yeramarus Thermal Power Station (YTPS) is generating 400 MW against the installed capacity of 1,600 MW.

The total state’s demand is fluctuating between 8,000 MW to 10,000 MW. While Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd is supplying 3,600 MW (thermal - 1,641 MW/hydel - 2,000 MW); around 1,915 MW is being sourced from central generating stations.

As many as 820 MW is being produced from non-conventional sources, while the remaining 2,700 MW is being sourced from UPCL and Jindal.