Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco) has sought early commissioning of Unit-1 of the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam, which has been shutdown since April 2018.
Tangedco said it was not known when the unit would be brought back into service. The Unit-1 has a capacity of 220 MW. Tangedco has 75% share of power from the installed capacity of 440 MW of both the units of MAPS.
The State’s power utility said it had been considering full generation from MAPS, while forecasting the load generation balance, in absence of a concrete plan/status of bringing back the unit to service. It pointed out that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) had said that the Unit-1 was facing technical issues and was unlikely to come online during 2022-23. The unit had not been brought into service so far. Hence, the NPCIL may be requested to indicate the probable date of bringing it back.
Tamil Nadu’s power consumption was 342.352 million units on Friday, according to data from the State Load Despatch Centre. The morning peak demand was 16,787 MW on Saturday. Tamil Nadu’s all-time high demand was 17,563 MW, hit on April 29, 2022. The evening peak demand is expected to range from 17,600 MW to 18,300 MW from March-May 2023. The State’s total installed capacity from conventional sources is 16,652.20 MW, of which central generating stations account for 6,972 MW.
