To meet the rising power demand and making all possible efforts to supply eight hours scheduled power to agriculture pumpsets (AP) consumers and uninterrupted power to other consumers in the State, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has requested the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to increase power generation.

Notably, due to paddy transplantation and hot summer season, the State’s power demand has touched more than 13,000 megawatt (MW).

PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director A Venu Prasad, in a written communication, has requested to BBMB chairman Sanjay Srivastava to explore the modalities to generate more power from Bhakra project and run all available units round the clock to provide relief to farmers to increase water in canal system for irrigation purposes.

Prasad said the water level of the Bhakra reservoir is less as compared to the water available in the previous years. Due to this, BBMB is not generating full power to meet the demands of the agriculture sector, he pointed out.

He said the reservoir level in BBMB at present is 1,524.60 feet against the previous year level of 1,581.50 feet. Similarly, in Pong Dam, it is 1,281 feet against the previous year level of 1335 feet. At present, 194 lakh units of power is supplied by BBMB. From all sources, the State has a total power availability of 12,810 MW.

Giving details of all the sources from where PSPCL is taking power presently, Prasad said as much as 3,864 MW is received from the central sector, while it is purchasing 2,195 MW from sources outside State, 1,192 MW from banking. Besides, 950 MW is generated from Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL), 1,320 MW from Nabha Power Limited (NPL), 492 MW from Goindwal Sahib Power Plant; 579 MW from Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Power Plant (GGSSTPP)-Ropar, 844 MW from Guru Hargobind Thermal Power Plant Lehra Mohabbat (Bathinda).

PSPCL is also getting power from hydro stations, including 410 MW from Ranjit Sagar Dam, 110 MW from Shanan Power House (in Himachal Pradesh), 83 MW from Upper Bari Doab Canal (UBDC) Hydroelectric Power Station, 179 MW from Mukerian Hydroelectric Project (Hoshiarpur), 120 MW from Anandpur Sahib Hydel Project. In addition, 398 MW is generated from solar, and 74 MW Renewable Energy (Biomass).