Centre allocates 430 MW additional supply to TN to meet summer demands
Tamil Nadu Electricity Board chairman and managing director Dr J Radhakrishnan said that the utility would be able to meet the ensuing summer power demands without any shortfall.
CHENNAI: Amid the power demand for the summer months, Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (TNPDCL) has got an additional allocation of 430 MW from the Centre's unallocated share to meet the ever-increasing power requirement.
The additional allocation of power would come in handy in meeting the shortfall in the generation caused by the fire in the 1,050 MW Tuticorin Thermal Power Station (TTPS) on Saturday, which impacted generation in three out of the five 210 MW units. In all, 1,440 MW of the total 4,320 MW capacity thermal power units were under forced shutdown.
Tamil Nadu Electricity Board chairman and managing director Dr J Radhakrishnan said that the utility would be able to meet the ensuing summer power demands without any shortfall.
"When we plan for the power requirement, we will not consider the entire installed thermal power capacity of 4,320 MW as some plants might face outages," he said, adding that a 600 MW unit in the North Chennai Stage II would resume generation in three weeks.
He said that out of the five units of the TTPS, three units 1 to 3 were impacted by the fire. "Unit 3 was shut down as a precautionary measure as units 1 and 2, which are close by, were under fire. Unit 3 will resume generation three weeks after inspection to ensure safety. A team of engineers will be constituted to assess the damages caused to Units 1 and 2 after which the repair work will commence, " he said.
Radhakrishnan said that the Union Ministry of Power has allocated 260 MW of power from the NTPC Kudgi plant from the Centre's unallocated power quota from March 14 to Tamil Nadu until May 31 this year. The Centre has already allocated 170 MW of its unallocated share to the state from March 1.
He said that the utility has a surplus power supply during the day hours but faces shortages during the peak hours. To meet the power demand, he said that the utility has already put in place more than adequate coverage to meet the electricity requirement. "Wind power generation will come down in April. We will increase hydel generation, " he said.
