Punjab today registered the highest-ever power demand of 16,078 MW, which meant the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) had to draw some excess power from the grid to manage the situation.
The tripping of a 660-MW unit at Talwandi Sabo led to the shortage of supply with the PSPCL. The supply to the agriculture sector was curtailed for some hours to manage the highest-ever power demand.
The power scenario in Punjab is almost at a touch-and-go situation as the high demand during afternoon hours meant that the Punjab power supply system was at an alarming level with the demand skyrocketing to 16,078 MW.
Officially, the PSPCL officials said no power cuts were imposed and that they curtailed power from agricultural feeders for some hours. “It was really a tight situation as demand reached 16,078 MW and anything could have happened,” said an official.
“Yesterday also, we had to restrict supply to these feeders to meet the highest demand from residential and other sectors. However, the agri-sector was compensated for it during the night,” said a senior PSPCL official.
“We did not impose power cuts, though some local snags could have resulted in power outages in certain pockets,” they said, when asked about complaints from consumers.
While the power demand is constantly rising, Punjab power scenario became worrisome after a 660-MW unit of a private thermal plant at Talwandi Sabo tripped following a leakage in the boiler tube. It is expected to be rectified within two days.
“Due to the non-availability of the Talwandi Sabo unit, we managed to get Punjab’s transmission capacity enhanced to 9,900 MW from the existing 9,500 MW. So it became possible to feed over 15,500 MW to Punjab,” said a senior official privy to the developments.
On Wednesday, Punjab’s own generation was around 5,700 MW and around 10,300 MW was drawn from the northern grid, which is higher than the allowed capacity. “However, that was done for a very short duration and after adjusting power supply to paddy fields, we managed to bring it under control,” said another PSPCL official.
On Tuesday, the power generated by the PSPCL in Punjab was 3,390 lakh units (LU), while it purchased 588 LU power through power exchange.
Over the past five days, the power demand in Punjab has been hovering above 15,000 MW. All four units of the Ranjit Sagar Dam (RSD) project are running to bridge the gap between demand and supply. The reservoir level at the RSD is 504.67 m, against the last year’s level of 511.97 m.
The coal stock at all thermal units in the state is sufficient, except at the Talwandi Sabo plant, which has only three days of coal stock.
660-MW Talwandi Sabo unit trips
The power scenario became worrisome after a 660-MW unit of a private thermal plant at Talwandi Sabo tripped following a leakage in the boiler tube. It is expected to be rectified in two days.
PSEB engineers’ appeal
We appeal to the public to set their air-conditioners at 26°C for the next 12 days to manage the load effectively. Farmers should not water vacant fields and delay paddy sowing by a week to conserve water and electricity. They should use only PAU-recommended less water consuming short-duration PR varieties.