C'garh to have1032 MU surplus power in 2015-16: CEA

Chhattisgarh would have 26,012 million units of power available during 2015-16 against the anticipated requirement of 24,980 million units during 2015-16, according to a report of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The Chhattisgarh State would have 1032 million units (MU) of surplus power generated during 2015-16 and the peak requirement is anticipated at 3,825 MW against the anticipated availability of 3,857 MW- a surplus of 32MW.    

As per CEA's actual power supply position versus load Generation Balance Report ( lGBR) for the year 2014-15, the actual energy shortage in the western region during 2014-15 was higher than the forecasted figure on account of higher energy requirement as compared to availability, the report pointed out.

All the States of western region experienced lower shortages during 2014-15. Chhattisgarh had energy shortage of 1.3 per cent against forecast surplus of 40.9 pc due to much lower energy availability than the forecast. Gujarat did not face any energy shortage against a forecast surplus of 4.1 pc. MP faced actual energy shortage of 0.5 pc against a forecast surplus of 5.1 pc due to lower energy availability, it stated.

In the western region during 2014-15, the maximum energy shortage was in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra which was 1.3 pc. Gujarat faced negligible energy shortage where as MP and Goa faced energy shortage in the range of 0.5 to 0.9 per cent.

The actual energy requirement and availability in the western region were higher than the forecast by 10.2 per cent and 9 per cent whereas the actual figures of peak demand and peak met were lower by 3.9 per cent and 18.1 per cent respectively. The actual energy shortage in the region was 0.8 per cent as compared to the forecasted surplus of 0.3 per cent.The actual peak demand of the western region was less than the anticipated.

Principal Secretary , Energy , Chhattisgarh government , Aman Kumar Singh in an official press release stated that as per one CEA report, during 2014-15 as on November 30, 2014, Chhattisgarh in the context of power generation in the State sector was positioned second in the country while during 2013-14 it was in the sixth position.

During the formation of Chhattisgarh in year 2000, the total energy demand was 900 MW which grew to 3,550 MW in 2014-15, according to the official statement.

Across the country, the CEA in its latest report anticipated capacity addition of 20,037 MW during 2015-16 comprising 17,346 MW of thermal,  1,691 MW of hydro and 1,000 MW of nuclear power stations. The studies carried out for anticipated power supply position for the year 2015-16 indicate that there would be energy shortage of 2.1 per cent and peak shortage of 2.6 per cent, the CEA report stated.

This apart, Chhattisgarh achieved total commissioned capacity of 10.28 MW as on June 11, 2015 for Grid Connected Solar Power Projects under various schemes, stated a document of Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

During the period, the MNRE projects achieved capacity of 4 MW, the projects under Chhattisgarh State Policy ( 1.68 MW) and REC scheme projects ( 4.6 MW) in Chhattisgarh, it stated.

Neighbouring Madhya Pradesh achieved total commissioned capacity of 563.58 MW during the period while Odisha achieved 31.92 MW and Andhra Pradesh achieved 247.46 MW. Chhattisgarh achieved a total commissioned capacity of 7.1000 MW from Grid Connected Solar PV power projects as on March 31, 2014, according to the 2013-14 annual report of Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The total commissioned capacity of such Solar PV power projects was 4.000 MW as on March 31, 2013 in Chhattisgarh, it stated. The grid connected power projects were commissioned under Phase-I of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) . A total of 11 projects of 50.5 MW capacity under the ‘migration scheme’ and 26 projects of 140 MW capacity under Batch-I were commissioned during the year across the country.

The JNNSM is a key initiative of the Union government and the State governments to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security challenges. The Mission is one of the several initiatives that were part of National Action Plan on Climate Change, it stated.

The JNNSM was launched on January 11, 2010 and the Mission targets included- deployment of 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022, 2000 MW of off-grid solar applications including 20 million solar lights by 2022, 20 million square metre of solar thermal collector area besides creating  favourable conditions for developing solar manufacturing capability in the country and to support R&D and capacity building activities to achieve grid parity by 2022. The Mission is to be completed in three phases, the report stated.

For the first phase of the Mission, the Union Cabinet last year approved a target to set up 1,100 MW grid connected  solar plants including 100 MW capacity plants as rooftop and other small solar power plants till March 2013.

In addition, a target of 200 MW capacity equivalent of off-grid solar applications and 7 million square metre solar thermal collector area were also approved.

The Union Cabinet last year had also approved setting up of a large utility scale grid power plants through bundling of solar power with the unallocated thermal power available from NTPC stations and the policy to provide generation based incentive for small grid connected solar power plants, it stated.