Power shortage in the State reached a high of 10 million a day on Wednesday, threatening to enhance the duration of cuts being implemented in the domestic sector, while the government continued to battle on all fronts to improve the situation.
Despite all efforts, AP Transco and distribution companies could supply 240 mu against a 250-mu demand for the day. A grid operation official denied reports that load relief was taken in case of industries and agriculture pumpsets too. He asserted that supply for lighting purpose would be ensured between 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. all over the State.
One factor which prevented the crisis from deepening further was that the staff manning the generation stations of AP Genco in Telangana and the transmission and distribution systems continued to work, while those handling other jobs like revenue collection joined ‘Sakala Janula Samme'.
Following efforts by the government, the State grid was now getting power from an installed capacity of 1,000 MW belonging to outside sources—Southern Grid (100 MW), Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan ( 330 MW), Haryana (200 MW) and power exchange (370 MW). Another 135 MW was made available by the Union Government from Tuesday midnight out of the unallocated share of the Central stations.
The power taken from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan would be returned in November-December and that of Haryana in July next.
To make up the production loss in Sinagreni mines, AP Genco, which was contributing 131.7 mu daily to the grid from its stations, including 43 mu from its hydel plants, was putting in a war-footing effort to get additional rakes of coal from Coal India's (CI) Mahanadi Coalfields, Orissa.
Besides, it finalised a plan to import one lakh tonnes. As coal replenishments to the NTPC's thermal station at Ramgundam from CI's collieries in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra were yet improve, it was being operated at 1,770 MW (its full capacity 2,600 MW). Out of 1,500 MW capacity available at the NTPC's another plant in the State at Visakhapatnam, only 1,160 MW was being used.
