Punjab remains power deficient
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 11
Notwithstanding the repeated claims of the SAD-BJP government of making Punjab a power-surplus state, the agrarian state continues to reel under power deficit. According to the latest "Load Generation Balance Report 2012-13", released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), a copy of which is with TNS, Punjab is power deficit by a whopping 8963 Million Units (MU) for the year 2012-13.

According to the report, the power demand of Punjab has been estimated to be 48,881 MU, whereas the estimated supply would be 39,918 MU - a shortfall of about 18.3 per cent. Notably, the Load Generation Balance Report (LGBR) of CEA covers the month-wise anticipated power requirement and availability, as well as the peak demand and availability of power for the year 2012-13.

During the current fiscal year, Punjab would not be adding any power generation capacity. The first unit of 270-MW capacity of the 540-MW under-construction Goindwal Sahib power project in Tarn Taran is unlikely to operational by April next year.

Furthermore, in the wake of the fact that the work of the first unit (660-MW) of the 1980-MW Talwandi Sabo thermal plant was behind schedule, the deadline for the commissioning of the first unit (660-MW) of this upcoming thermal plant has been extended from November 30 this year to April 13, 2013.

Speaking to The Tribune, a senior officer working with the power corporation said, "Because of the delay in the commissioning of the Talwandi Sabo first unit, Punjab would be able to generate about 1800 MU less power during the four months period from December 2012 to March 2013."

When contacted, president of PSEB Engineers' Association Baldev Singh Sran blamed the successive state governments for failing to augment the power generation capacity. "In the past one decade, the policy-makers have not laid much stress to ensure power capacity addition," he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) Director (Generation) GS Chabra said once the first units of both the thermal plants Talwandi Sabo and Goindwal are commissioned, Punjab would be much comfortable during the start of the 2013 summer season.

Short-term measures

PSPCL Director (Distribution) Arun Verma could not be contacted for comments. However, some other officials in the Distribution Wing of PSPCL, on condition of anonymity, claimed the LGBR does not include the short-term power purchases being made by the state power corporation. "PSPCL had got 4000 MU through short-term power purchase from April 1 till September 30 this year. Also, the figures mentioned in the CEA report cannot be considered absolute as these are projected figures," said a PSPCL official. Power experts feel short-term power is not a permanent solution for bridging the gap between power demand and availability.