State hopes to sustain continuous power supply through the summer

Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar has announced that the load-shedding that was enforced stands officially withdrawn from Friday. While the government has promised 24 hours of power supply starting this new year to urban areas, irrigation pumpsets will get around six to seven hours of power supply.

Mr. Shivakumar, at a press conference here on Friday, said the State hopes to sustain continuous power supply through the summer. While the State’s demand is around 9,800 MW, the shortage was pegged at around 1,800 MW. To tide over the shortage, the government will start utilising hydel resources from today, generating about 1,000 MW. This apart, the government has purchased 1,300 MW.

“Around 168 MW will come in from January 1 from Damodar Valley, while 300 MW will be fed into the grid from April 1,” he said. Around 221 MW is expected from the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant from mid-January. Supply of another 700 MW from unit three of the BTPS has started since December 25, he added. Another 700 MW is expected to come in from January-end from the Yermarus thermal plant.

The government is also contemplating a new scheme to replace inefficient IP sets across the State after a pilot project proved that energy-efficient pumpsets can yield 40 per cent energy savings.