Power blackout looms large in rural regions

Pioneer News Service | Ranchi

The rural populace of Jharkhand might face blackout as the Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) could face shortage of 150-175 megawatt in the coming days. Patratu Thermal Power Station (PTPS) and Tenughat Vidhut Nigam Limited (TVNL) have been reported to have limited stocks of coal to feed its running units.

An official of the JSEB said that both the thermal power stations have been facing shortage of coal in last couple of days. “One out of two units of the TVNL has been reported to close down due to the shortage of coal. The two units of PTPS are also not running due to the same reason. Only four units of PTPS are working,” he added. He added that if there could be any shortage of electricity in the State, then, the board would supply uninterrupted electricity to the Ranchi district. “There could be announced power cuts in rural districts of Jharkhand,” he added.

According to sources, there has been shortage of coal in both the thermal power stations — PTPS and TVNL. “The Central Coalfield Limited has threatened to stop supply of coal due to the pending bills of electricity. The Government undertaking is supply limited coal to both the power stations,” he added.

There are requirement of 3,000 metric tones per day in PTPS. But the CCL has able to supply only 15-16 rake of coal to the PTPS. One rake of goods train stocks about 3,000 metric tones, which is required to run a thermal power for single day.

Combing the PTPS and TVNL, the total production of electricity happened to be 522 MW, which is sufficient to cater the needs of domestic as well as commercial consumers.