Tangedco ready with private generators, short-term purchase

CHENNAI: With the power demand shooting up already, Tangedco wants to leave no stone unturned to ensure uninterrupted power supply during summer.

It has signed up for short-term power purchase agreements and ensured power generation in the private thermal stations within the State.

As Tangedco expects TN’s peak power demand to cross 18,000 MW bettering its present all-time high demand of 17,563 MW recorded on April 29, 2022, it has signed short-term power purchases to meet the shortfall during evening peak hours, said sources.

To avoid the dependence on the day-ahead market and real-time market for energy procurement, Tangedco sources said that it plans to schedule generation in the SEPC at Thoothukudi, IL&FS at Cuddalore and Coastal Energen at Thoothukudi during summer. Last year, these units were mostly shutdown due to a coal shortage.

IL&FS and Coastal Energen supply 540 MW and 558 MW respectively to Tangedco under long-term open access, while SEPC supplies 525 MW. IL&FS and SEPC are under reserve shutdown since October 15 and October 31 last year, while the Energen is closed due to a coal shortage from January 11 this year.

TAQA Neyveli, a 250 MW lignite-based thermal power plant, which was facing coal shortage for a while, started power generation after Tangedco held talks with the Neyveli Lignite Corporation to ensure the supply of lignite. “These private thermal power plants will help TN meet its power demand,” sources said.