‘Borrowed’ power surplus forces shutdown at state’s own plants?

The thermal plants in power deficit state generally hit headlines due to disruption in power production caused by technical snags in the production units. Sources revealed that two units each at Bathinda (110 MW each) and Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant (210 MW each) were shut down in the intervening night. While the units at Bathinda have a capacity to produce 50 lakh units of electricity in a day,the Lehra Mohabbat units produce 26 lakh units each. The three units (210 MW each) that were shut down at Ropar Thermal Plant have production capacity of 50 lakh units of electricity each in a day.

Intriguingly,the closures came hours before Punjab was to get 925 MW power from five states: Tripura,Chhattisgarh,Himachal Pradesh,Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh beginning today to fulfil the escalated power demand for paddy transplantation season that began today. PSPCL chairman KD Chaudhry in a meeting convened by Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal had disclosed that Punjab had tied up with the said states to meet the peak power load requirements in the wake of paddy transplantation season.

“We were told in the night that there was no demand of power. So we shut down two units. Both the units are ready for restart as and when required,” said Bathinda thermal plant chief engineer K. Lal.

While Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) attributed the closure of units to no demand of power due to stormy weather in many parts of Punjab during the night,sources claimed that Punjab government’s eagerness to ensure power cut free regime in the state with an eye on upcoming assembly polls where the government went on “an overdrive” to purchase power from outside sources/agencies had jeopardised the production potential of the thermal plants.

Sources pointed out that the closure of production units was likely to act as a double edged sword to cause heavy losses to state exchequer. They claimed that as compared to production cost of electricity at the said units,the rates at which power had been purchased from outside were “exorbitant”. The fuel cost for each unit of electricity produced at thermal plants in Bathinda,Lehra Mohabbat and Ropar is Rs. 2.20,Rs. 1.70 and Rs. 1.90,respectively. On the other hand,power has been purchased at about Rs. 4 a unit from outside.

Sources also underlined that the cost involved in restarting the power production units would also cause significant losses.

What has left many bemused is another fact that the units had to be shut down due to “no demand” of power in June,the hottest month of the year. Sources say that there are times when the power units have to be shut down due to no demand. “But,in June. It (No demand) is totally unheard of. There is all the more demand in this month. And sowing of paddy that began today aggravates the demand,” said an official,requesting anonymity.

PSPCL Member Distribution Arun Verma,when contacted,attributed the closure of units to “stormy weather and torrential rains”. “The stormy weather in many parts of Punjab damaged many grids and feeders,affecting the transmission. The load suddenly crashed and demand of power sharply came down due to that during night and we decided to shut the units down,” Verma said,claiming that two of the seven units,one each at Lehra Mohabbat and Ropar had been restarted after the “demand started building up”.

Asked about the power purchased from outside players,Verma said there had not been any change in its quantum than the last year. “We had purchased 3000 million units in February this year itself at a cost of about Rs. 4 a unit. We spent Rs. 1200 crore for the purchase this year,as compared to Rs. 1850 crore spend last year on the same quantity when the rate was over Rs. 6 a unit,” Verma maintained.

Asked if there was a provision to return the purchased power in case of surplus scenario,Verma said 10 percent of that can be surrendered at two days’ notice.

“We have surrendered that also,but that quantity was very less in the light of sharp decline in demand. So,we went ahead with shutting down the units,” he claimed.