Punjab witnesses power cuts for 3 to 4 hours as 5 power units shut down amid severe coal shortage

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 9

Punjab on Saturday plunged into a power crisis amid severe coal shortage. Power cuts ranging from three to four hours are being imposed in the state.

With five thermal units being forced to shut down, the state is on the edge.

Information available with The Tribune shows that while two units each at Talwandi Sabo power plant and the Ropar plant are shut, one unit at the Lehra Mohabbat plant is also closed.

While the units at the Lehra Mohabbat plant and Talwandi Sabo plant have been forced to shut because of power shortage, technical glitches have forced the shut down of two units at Ropar. This has led to a power shortage of 1,000 MW.

Official sources in Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) told The Tribune that the only relief is the low demand in the agriculture sector now as the paddy is being harvested, and does not require irrigation. As a result, the demand for power is around 8,500 MW.

Failing to ensure its own minimum coal stock at private and state owned thermal plants, PSPCL, meanwhile, has been appealing consumers to use power wisely as it resorted to 3 to 4 hours of power cuts to meet demand.

It is second year in a row that PSPCL is putting power restrictions after peak paddy season due to its failure to maintain minimum coal stocks.

Last year, too, it resorted to power cuts in October.

"There is an acute shortage of coal in the conuntry. Please conserve power by switching off the lights, devices and air conditioners when not required." PSPCL said in its appeal.

With the gap arising because of the coal shortage-induced shutdown of power generation, the state power utility is buying power from the power exchange.

“We are buying power from private and government players through the power exchange. But this is expensive. On Friday, we got power at Rs 13 per unit,” PSPCL Chairman A Venu Prasad told The Tribune.

He said that while the government is asking the Centre to send coal to Punjab urgently, they are prepared to buy power from other producers.