T-stir hits power supply

Minister for Energy Shobha Karandlaje said transportation of coal from Singareni in Andhra Pradesh and Nagpur was halted due to the agitations. The State is now short of 1,500 MW power everyday.

Three of the eight units in the Raichur Thermal Power Station, have been already shut down. Unscheduled load-shedding is being resorted to across the State to cope with the crisis. Karandlaje told reporters in Bangalore on Monday that a decision was yet to be taken on announcing scheduled load-shedding.

“Presently, we are left with a stock of 1.8 lakh tonnes of coal, which should suffice for another 12 days. Daily, we would get coal supplied in three rakes, which has now come down to just one rake, containing about 3,300 tonnes of coal. We might announce a scheduled load-shedding in a day or two,” she said.

Power purchase

The Energy department has planned to purchase additional power, which was stopped in March this year, she said.

“We are also facing a shortage of 300 MW to 350 MW of power from the Central generating stations of NTPC – Simhadri and Ramagundam. Karnataka is being supplied only about 1000 MW everyday, as opposed to 1534 MW allocated to us from the Central share,” she said.

The State has been getting only less than 100 MW from wind energy, despite the 1,000 MW generating capacity, she said.

“We have decided to purchase 630 MW of power from Jindal, Lanco and other sources to tide over the present situation,” she added.

The Energy department, which is adding another 230 MW from October 1, had also called tenders for purchase of 500 MW. However, as the rates were on the higher side – Rs 4.96 per unit, the department has decided to call fresh tenders.

BTPS units shut

Karandlaje said by February next year, the department should be in a comfortable situation as the second units of Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS) and Udupi Power Corporation Ltd would be commissioned. BTPS has presently been shut for annual maintenance.