KTPS glitches make Transco shop power from exchanges

Hyderabad: Shutdown of the power generation at KTPS (Kothagudem Thermal Power Station), with 800 MW installed capacity, for the last two weeks due to technical glitches has put heavy burden on the state to meet the power demand.

The Transco has been purchasing about 1200 MW of power from the power exchanges every day.

The cost of power purchased from power exchanges varies from Rs 3.50 per unit to Rs 4.50 per unit. It means about Rs 9 crore is being spent to buy power from the exchanges every day. As the hydel power generation has gone down considerably the Transco has no other way than purchasing power from the exchanges.

The power consumption is on the rise in the state for the past one month. The consumption is about 190 MUs per day and the TS Genco is able to supply about 56 MUs to 58 MUs per day. The power consumption in the state has reached 199 MUs on December 16.

Transco is purchasing about 24 MU from the exchange during the peak hours and procuring rest of the power from the Genco, Central Power Generation Corporation and from the Singareni Collieries. The Genco has stepped up the power generation at hydel stations and producing about 5 MUs per day to help the Transco.

The demand for the power is rising as the Kaleswaram Lift Irrigation project is being run to pump the water to the reservoirs from the Godavari river.

About 20 MUs of power is being used by the pumping stations of the Kaleswaram project. The consumption is also high in the agriculture sector as the rabi sowing season is on.

On the other hand, the 800-MW thermal station, the 12th unit of Kothagudem Thermal Power Station, is not working for the past 20 days due to technical problems.

It has faced high turbine vibration and repairs have been taken up on November 28. After this the officials of Genco have decided to overhaul the power generation unit. The officials are not sure by when it would begin power generation again.

The Transco would be able to procure about 15 MU from this unit at a lower cost and would be able to meet the demand for power up to 30 per cent. Due to the non-functioning of the Kothagudem 800 MW TPS it is able to meet only 20 per cent of the total demand.