CHENNAI: The recent announcement by the Union Minister of Power, P.M. Sayeed, that the State has agreed to double its new capacity in the 11th Five-Year Plan period does not come as a surprise in the context of Tamil Nadu's dominant position in the southern region power sector.

Apart from meeting the growing demand, predominantly industrial activity-driven, the State will be keen to improve its status or at least maintain the edge over the other Southern States on several key parameters.

As on March 31, Tamil Nadu has the highest installed generation capacity of 8135.71 megawatt, according to statistics made available by the Union Ministry of Power at the review meeting of the southern region power sector here on Saturday. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are behind at about 7,775 MW and 5,759 MW respectively.

Energy shortage

In terms of energy shortage, the State stands second in the region with 0.6 per cent in 2004-05, behind the Union Territory of Pondicherry where the shortage is nil.

While Andhra Pradesh is just behind at 0.7 per cent, Tamil Nadu is relatively better off in terms of the peak deficit, which is 1.2 per cent. The peak deficit in Andhra Pradesh is 2.3 per cent. The energy shortage and peak deficit in Karnataka was 4.2 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively, which nevertheless is a substantial improvement over the 2003-04 position of 13.9 per cent and 12.4 per cent.

But it is in the area of wind power where Tamil Nadu has an unassailable lead with installed generation capacity of the eco-friendly energy, as on March 31, being 1,677.40 MW. An overwhelming 1,658 MW of the wind power is generated by the private sector.

While the wind power generation in Pondicherry is nil, the closest competitor to the State is Karnataka with 276 MW, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 101 MW and Kerala at 2 MW.

A recent study by the Confederation of Indian Industry attributed the growth of wind power in the State — Tamil Nadu leads the country in terms of installed wind power capacity — to a combination of factors, including consistency in policy and a good grid infrastructure to evacuate the power.

Third-party sale

Noting that the potential of wind power generation is much higher, the study had recommended to the State to permit third-party sale by the private producers and make the tariff more attractive.

It had estimated the potential of wind power generation in Andhra Pradesh at 8,275 MW and that of Karnataka at 6,620 MW.

An issue of concern in Tamil Nadu — which has the highest per capita consumption in the region — however, is the higher capacity additions in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka during the 9th Plan period. It was 1512.8 MW and 1,441.2 MW respectively by the two States, whereas the capacity addition in Tamil Nadu during 1997-2002 was 894 MW. The expected addition in the 10th Plan is also relatively lower in the State.

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