Severe coal shortage hits power generation

VIZIANAGARAM: People across the state are likely to face more power cuts in the next few days due to severe shortage of coal at the Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station (NTTPS) at Vijayawada and the Rayalaseema Thermal Power Plant (RTPP) at Kadapa. Andhra Pradesh experienced a shortage of about 8 million units (mu) as power generation was drastically affected due to coal crisis.

At a time when the row over power purchase agreements between the state governments of AP and Telangana is heating up, the coal shortage has just worsened the situation in the state. Already, three to four hours of power cuts are being imposed in major cities like Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur.

In Visakhapatnam city, three spells of one-hour power cuts are being imposed. However, an additional 30 minutes of power cut is likely to be imposed over the next few days.

'Though the situation has improved, unscheduled power cuts continue to be imposed,' complained B Srinivasa Rao, a resident of Suryaraopet in Vijayawada.

The situation in rural areas is far worse with power cuts being imposed for over 8-10 hours every day. As power generation fell by about 630 MW, the authorities fear that they might be forced to impose more power cuts, unless coal supplies are restored immediately. Several industries too are facing the heat of coal crisis. If the power cuts continue, they may be forced to shut down their units temporarily.

Md Nawaz, managing director of Syncmeta Systems Private Limited in Visakhapatnam city, complained that the expenditure on power has increased manifold due to power shortage.

While the government has imposed power cuts for lesser period when compared to industrial holidays declared earlier this year, the unscheduled power cuts for a prolonged period is turning out to be a costly affair for the industrialists.

'The repeated power cuts are causing an additional load on our generators. Even if we want to approach the higher officials of the Electricity Department, the state government and the administration are still new and have their own problems in power production and distribution,' he added.

APTransco officials say that due to shortage of coal supplies from the Talcher Coalfields in Odisha and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited in Karnataka, the power generation has decreased by a large extent.

The state government is said to have initiated talks with other coalfields but the situation is unlikely to improve for at least another one week as there is coal shortage across the country. The officials also blamed the absence of rain despite the southwest monsoon covering the entire state.

'Normally, power consumption decreases during this period following the onset of monsoon. But due to the absence of rainfall, there is high consumption of power including usage of air-conditioners,' said a senior official of EPDCL.