Power disruption due to spike in demand, says CESU official

Reported by Sandeep Pattnaik
Bhubaneswar, Apr 26:

Odisha has clocked a gross peak power consumption of around 3750 MW during summer this year, an increase of 300 MW as compared to previous year, resulting in overloading problems and disruption in supply, according to a CESU official.

Odisha usually needs around 3050-3100 MW of power, but the demand has reached at a level of 3750 MW during summer this time.

“Excess consumption of air coolers and air conditioners by the consumers during summer has led to such overloading problem due to which there is disruption in power supply in the state,” P K Pradhan, director (commercial) Gridco said.

“This is despite the fact that the state has not witnessed any power deficit in recent days,” he added.

According to the data available with the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC), Odisha is producing power to the tune of 2463 MW against a gross demand of about 3472 MW.

The 2463 MW of power generation consists of 1058 MW of hydro power, 751 thermal power and 655 MW from captive power plants [CPP]. The balance 1000 MW power is procured from the western grid to meet the shortfall in demand. The total power produced is distributed in the following manner- 1065 MW to CESU, 916 MW to WESCO, 644 MW to NESCO and 450 MW to SOUTHCO.

“The capital city itself needs around 20 MW per day; but during summer the requirement goes up by another 20-30 percent keeping in view the wide use of coolers and AC by the consumers,” according to a CESU official.

As per section 126 and 127 of the Electricity Act, 2003 a consumer has to inform the SDO or JE of the department, if they are using any new power equipment like AC or cooler, which is usually not happening. It leads to overburden which in turn results in damage to the transformers.

“Consumers should inform the concerned departmental authorities when they are using the amenities so that necessary steps will be taken to meet the excess demand,” an official said.

The load factor usually increases during the peak time i.e. within evening 6 to 9 pm, according to the official.