Andhra Pradesh   

APTransco to buy power at Rs. 6 per unit

M. Malleswara Rao

Open market purchase to meet likely shortage during rabi

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh will shortly begin purchase of electricity from the open market paying a record price of Rs. 6.20 a unit on an average to meet the shortage, likely to be severe, during rabi.

This is the first time that power is being purchased through this mode and at such a high price. Officials justify this on the ground that restrictions have been placed on overdrawal from the Southern Grid. Moreover, owing to gas shortage, closure of some power plants and restrictions on plant load factor (PLF) and operation of hydel stations, the APTransco has been using only 50 per cent of the State's installed capacity of 11,182 MW.

Even with cuts imposed on the rural areas/industries and additional drawals from Central stations, APTransco struggled to meet the peak demand of 180 million units a day towards the close of kharif. The rabi demand is expected to reach 195 mu a day. The shortage is going to be severe due to increased agriculture load as farmers sowed paddy instead of irrigated dry crops as advised by the Government. Left with no other alternative, APTransco has accepted bids from Jindal South-West, the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) and National Vidyuth Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVNL), offering 50 MW, 100 MW and 150 MW of power at Rs. 5.95 per unit, Rs. 6.46 and Rs. 6.78 respectively. Interestingly, the price quoted by NVVNL, a Central undertaking, is the highest.

APTransco pays Rs. 2 a unit to NTPC and Rs. 3 to private stations and over Rs. 4 for overdrawals from the Southern Grid. The high price payable to the three bidders is unlikely to affect consumers as the Government is "ready to absorb the shock".

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