The Hindu : New Delhi News : Govt. gears up to beat the summer heat

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Tuesday, Apr 26, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Govt. gears up to beat the summer heat

Sujay Mehdudia

Tie-ups to help meet peak power demand

NEW DELHI: Although a sharp increase in the demand for power has been projected for the summer, there is relief in sight for Delhiites as the Delhi Government has made all preparations for the coming months. Apart from seeking an enhanced 13 per cent allocation from the Central quota, it has stitched up major agreements with the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board and the Eastern Region for supply of power during the summer.

The summer action plan was unveiled by the Delhi Power Minister, Haroon Yusuf, on Monday at a meeting of the State Cabinet chaired by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit. Representatives of the private discoms also attended the meeting and made their presentations before the Council of Ministers on what all they had done during the previous year and their preparations for the summer.

From May to September, the Delhi Government will on average get 1,821 MW of power from the Central sector projects. In addition, it will get 150 MW each during May and June from the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation. In another big achievement, it has made the Himachal Pradesh Government sign an agreement for supply of 180 MW power during May, 380 MW during June, 400 MW during July, 440 MW in August and 340 MW in September.

Under this plan, the total availability of power has been projected at 3,595 MW during May, 3,630 MW in June, 3,571 MW in July, 3,611 MW in August and 3,493 in September more than the anticipated average demand of around 3,500 MW during the five months of summer season, ruling out chances of any shortage being faced by the Capital.

In addition, the Delhi Transco Limited has requested the Union Ministry of Power to increase the allocation from unallocated quota from the existing 22 per cent to 35 per cent during peak hours that would provide additional availability of 100 MW and will act as a buffer in case of outage of any unit. It is understood that Mr. Yusuf informed the Cabinet that the Power Department had also taken into consideration the weather forecast for the next few months and all indications are that it is going to be a mild summer.

As for Delhi's internal generation, it has been projected at 720 MW during May, 555 MW during June, 720 MW each for July, August and September. The Badarpur Thermal Power Station will generate on an average 630 MW of power during the summer months.

Asserting that it was important for Delhi to ensure that its own internal generation gets of boost, the Power Minister informed the Cabinet that steps have already been taken to get the 300 MW Pragati II power project second phase going and also explore the possibility of setting up a 1,000 MW gas based power plant at Indraprastha Power Station.

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