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Record power availability in M.P.

Staff Correspondent

Focus on uninterrupted electricity generation during Rabi season

BHOPAL: The availability of electricity was 6109 MW on December 21, which is the highest ever in Madhya Pradesh. The availability of power in the State on November 23 was 6015 MW and the situation on the electricity front improved progressively raising the availability of power to 6054 MW on December 12.

An official spokesman told The Hindu that it has been possible to meet the demand for electricity, which has increased by over 600 MW as compared to last year, due to improved power generation. The spokesman said that the annual maintenance of thermal power plants was carried out in a planned manner this year. This helped in ensuring uninterrupted power generation from these plants during the Rabi season. In comparison with last year the plant load factor (PLF) has improved by over 2 percent and the situation was expected to get even better.

Similarly, efforts have been made to maximise hydel power generation during the Rabi season. The commissioning of Bansagar dam earlier this year has led to the generation of additional 750 million units of power from the Bansagar Tons complex. Higher generation has also been possible as the reservoirs on the Chambal river in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were filled to a record level and even Indira Sagar Project could perform better since the Madhya Pradesh High Court allowed the water level in the Indira Sagar reservoir to be raised from 255 meters to 260 meters.

The spokesman went on to add that power generation in the State was adversely affected, to some extent, as the sluice gates were not installed at the Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujrat. The State, he said, had started receiving additional 115 MW of power from the Vindhayachal Thermal Power Plant in the Central sector in December. The Tarapur Atomic Power Station's unit No 4 in Maharashtra was successfully tested in June 2006 and after it started commercial production on August 6, Madhya Pradesh's share from the Central power generation units also went up by 105 MW.

The spokesman further said that the power purchase rates have considerably increased due to rising gap between demand and supply. On December 21, a record 1160 MW additional power was purchased by the State, he added.

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