The intense heatwave sweeping the state has created an unprecedented demand for electricity in Uttar Pradesh. The demand crossed 27,000 MW and reached 27,368 MW on Monday/Tuesday night. The demand during the day hours on Monday was 26,992 MW. If the heatwave persists, the demand for electricity is likely to cross 28,000 MW.
With the record spurt in demand and consumption of electricity, UP has emerged as the second major power consumer state of India after Maharashtra. The electricity demand in UP on June12/13 was 554 million units, while that in Maharashtra during the same period was 610 million units.
According to the National Load Dispatch Centre run by the Grid Controller of India, a central PSU, the total demand for electricity in UP in June is slightly more than the combined demand for electricity in four eastern states (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha) and eight north-eastern states — Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim.
The daily demand in UP is 554 million units while in eastern and north-eastern states, it is around 500 million units per day this month.
The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has claimed that despite intense heatwave sweeping the state, the power utility has maintained 18 hours of supply to rural areas and 24 hours of supply to big cities and district headquarters.
The rural areas in Bundelkhand are getting 20 hours of power supply while nagar panchayat towns and tehsil headquarters are getting 21.30 hours of power supply per day.
UPPCL chairman M Devraj said here on Tuesday that the power utility is geared up to meet the challenge and preparations have been made for meeting the 28,000MW demand as the heatwave is likely to continue in June.
Devraj visited the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) here in Gomti Nagar and reviewed the status of power generation and supply. The SLDC conducts 24X7 monitoring of the power grid and power supply across the state to different categories of consumers.
He said there is no dearth of equipment like transformers and other things for maintaining power supply. He said the officers of power generation, transmission and distribution are working on a war footing to meet the challenge posed by the intense heatwave.
The UPPCL chairman said the officers of all the power distribution companies (discoms) have been directed to not leave their respective places of posting and ensure the faults in power distribution are rectified at the earliest. He also directed the power engineers to curb power theft as it is causing excess load on power distribution transformers, leading to fire.
Devraj said two closed units — Lalitpur (600 MW) and Anpara (500 MW) — are likely to be lit up on Tuesday night itself. He added that UP is getting 13,000 MW thermal power, 900 MW hydro power, 7,000 MW from central sector power plants like National Thermal Power Corporation, 2,500 MW from long-term agreements, 4,400 MW of banking power, 1,800 MW solar power, and the rest from energy exchange based on the demand.
Meanwhile, UPPCL has announced 4% DA for power employees of all the three wings — generation, transmission, and distribution.
Devraj said that despite the despite the accumulated debt losses of over Rs one lakh crore and precarious financial condition of the power utility, the DA has been sanctioned for the employees.