The Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (SPDCL) is on the brink of imposing power cut for an hour in the nights in municipal corporations, district headquarters and other important towns soon owing to yawning demand-supply gap.
As on Thursday, power supply was being cut for three hours in Vijayawada city and district headquarters, four hours in municipalities and more than six hours in the villages but as the deficit crossed 700 MW mainly due to excessive peak-time load, the Southern discom is forced to extend power cuts beyond dusk.
According to official sources, SPDCL requires about 3,500 MW during the peak hours but the supply was nowhere near that mark.
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Compounding the woes was the steep fall in power availability by 500 MW from the Central grid and the stoppage of hydro-power generation at Srisailam due to the low water levels.
APGenco’s Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station at Krishnapatnam was charged up recently but the delay in completing the power evacuation line works crippled supply.
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It is expected to contribute 200 to 300 MW by the end of this month and reach full generation only after three to four months.
Power holidayAs reducing the deficit remained a daunting task, SPDCL started imposing power cuts in the nights for an hour on a trial basis and it is likely that they will go ahead soon on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, the power holiday for industries was continuing on different days in six operational circles as SPDCL struggled to balance the requirement of domestic, industrial and farm sectors.
Agriculture sectorThe demand from agriculture sector is expected to come down considerably in a couple of weeks. Industries had a tougher time last year due to three power holidays in a week during summer.
Grim situationThe overall situation is grim as the demand-supply gap widened with each passing day largely due to the spurt in power consumption by air-conditioners and refrigerators.