Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Monday assured people of the State that they will go through the remaining summer without load-shedding despite soaring temperatures and dipping water levels in reservoirs.
Briefing media persons after reviewing the power supply situation, with all the five Escoms here, he said the power utilities and the government were prepared to meet any eventuality, and would be open to purchasing power from other States in public interest, if there was a need.
He said tenders had been floated to procure about 1,000 MW of power from other States as a precautionary measure to tide over any shortage arising out of any glitch in thermal generation, he said, in an obvious reference to the two main thermal power stations — the Raichur Thermal Power Station and Bellary Thermal Power Station — that hold the key to the State’s power supply
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“In case of an eventuality, the power utilities will open the bids and start procuring power immediately,” he said.
According to him, the present power generation level in the State would be sufficient to meet requirements, as sugar factories with co-generation facility have agreed to supply 450 MW.
The dipping water level in the reservoirs is a concern for the government as that will have a cascading affect on thermal power generation too.
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The Energy Department had requested the Water Resources Department to make enough water available from both the Tungabhadra and Narayanapur reservoirs for thermal power generation, he said.
Noting that the power requirement for irrigation pump (IP) sets in Hubballi-Dharwad, Kalaburagi and Mysuru regions had reduced by 200 MW, Mr. Shivakumar said farmers were not in a position to carry out agricultural activities due to drought.