The commissioning of the 800-MW North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) Stage III has been pushed to June 2023 from March 2023. The plant was to have been completed by July 2019.
It was also one of a total of 4,380 MW of coal power projects envisaged by the State sector between 2017 and 2022 which did not materialize, according to the data provided in the Draft Electricity Plan published by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), under the Union Ministry of Power.
Trial runs have been conducted at NCTPS.
At a recent meeting of Southern Regional Power Committee (SRPC), the State power managers said some issues had been raised, and the plant might be commissioned in June 2023.
They also informed that the NCTPS capacity was not considered for the power availability during the coming peak summer demand period.
According to the data shared at the SRPC meeting, Tamil Nadu’s power demand reached a maximum of 16,063 MW on January 10, around 7% higher than the same time last year.
According to the data from the State Load Despatch Centre, Tamil Nadu’s peak demand was 16,370 MW on Friday. Tamil Nadu saw an all-time high-power demand of 17,563 MW on April 29, 2022.
According to the policy note of Tamil Nadu’s Energy Department for 2022-23, the State’s peak demand is about 17,000 MW-17,500 MW. The State’s evening peak demand is expected to range from 17,600 MW to 18,300 MW from March-May 2023, as per the data shared at the SRPC meeting.
Tamil Nadu is expected to see a deficit of 1,938 MW-2,193 MW against the availability during the evening peak demand period.
According to the Energy Department’s policy note for 2022-23, the total installed capacity from conventional sources is 16,652.20 MW. Tangedco’s own thermal power capacity is 4,320 MW and the Central generating stations account for 6,972 MW.
The power managers said they planned to source power in the range of 1,250 MW-2,850 MW through bilateral agreements as well as through purchases from power exchanges.
