Energy requirements of Telangana could rise exponentially in the coming five years. If not geared up to meet the demand through capacity addition and other measures, the State could face acute power crisis, says a report by Task Force on Energy.
The report submitted to the Government recently by the five-member task force headed by Principal Secretary, Energy S.K.Joshi predicted that the energy requirement for the State could go up from 54,998 MU in 2014-15, to 84,496 MU in 2018-19, clocking a rise of 54 per cent in five years.
Power from the existing sources, on the other hand, will come down to 43,754 MU by 2018-19, from the 45,795 MU projected for 2014-15, resulting in a demand-supply gap of 40,742 MU, or 48 per cent.
Major contributorsMajor contributors to the demand growth are Hyderabad Metro Rail project, various lift irrigation schemes, and the upcoming project of the Hyderabad Information Technology Investment Region, the report mentioned. Growth of Warangal, Nizamabad and Karimnagar into bigger cities is expected to increase the demand further.
Exploring the scope of capacity addition, the report forecast availability of 8,500 MW of power from TSGenco’s Kakatiya Thermal Power Plant, and the hydro electric projects at Lower Jurala and Pulichintala latest by December, 2015. In addition, the Singareni project at Jaipur, Adilabad is expected to supply 1,200 MW by October, 2016. Of this, Telangana would get a share of 647 MW.
The report also recommended, based on fuel availability, revival of the now-shelved Shankarpally gas-based power plant for dedicated supply to IT region of the city.
Hopes are also pinned on 1,000 MW power from upcoming central generating stations at Kudigi, Tuticorin, Neyveli, Kalpakkam and Srikali. About 6,992 MU per annum is expected from these plants.
Telangana’s share from the upcoming APGenco’s Krishnapatnam units, and RTPP Stage IV, and the privately owned Thermal Power Tech is estimated to contribute 1,455 MW or 9913 MU latest by 2016-17.
Enunciating policy measures for meeting the demand effectively, the report strongly recommended non-conventional energy sources as against coal-fired plants.
Significant among other recommendations is exploring the possibility to continue the PPAs due to expire in the next five years. A decision about extending the PPAs with gas-based plants must is urgently needed, as they would expire over the next two to three years, it said.
