After realizing the fact power generation in the State run hydro power projects is completely insufficient to meet with the demand of electricity, Uttarakhand Power Corporation limited (UPCl) has been procuring electricity on day-ahead basis in order to meet with the demand of electricity in the State.
Well established sources revealed that the department has been procuring around 175 megawatt of electricity in order to prevent power outage in the Garhwal and Kumaon divisions of Uttarakhand. Well established sources revealed that the department is planning to request for bid for 250 megawatt of electricity between April and June in the next financial year.
The availability of electricity in the state could be easily gauzed by the fact that the State run hydro power projects are generating around seven to nine million units of electricity per day whereas the department is getting Himachal Pradesh’s share of nearly 0.75 million units per day besides, the State’s share of electricity from central sector generating stations hovers around 11 million units per day.
The department figures clearly highlighted that the gross availability of electricity in the State is around 18-19 million units per day whereas the gross availability of electricity in the State hovers around 30-32 million units per day. The department is continuously facing the shortage of around 12-13 million units of electricity per day.
Sources confirmed that Uttar Pradesh will follow shutdown on 400 KV Muzaffarnagar-Puhana line and some cities in Garhwal division of the State will face the power outage from 9 am to 5 pm on Sunday. Besides, UPCl is likely to receive 8.5 million units of electricity on Sunday in order to minimize power outage across the State.
In an exclusive interaction with The Pioneer, SS Yadav, Managing Director, UPCl, said that the department has been procuring electricity from private firms in order to meet with the demand of electricity in the State. “Since the power generation has reduced to eight million units per day, it has become difficult for the department to meet with the demand of electricity in the State,” he narrated, adding that the department has been
keeping an eye on grid frequency and emergency power cut has been followed across the State in order to prevent tripping at grid. Yadav further cleared that stern instructions have been continuously giving to the engineers to rectify technical snags at earliest in order to avoid inconvenience to the residents and also said that the department has been continuously trying to maintain minimum power outage across the State.