The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : The heat is on for KPTCL

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 20, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

The heat is on for KPTCL

B.S. Satish Kumar

Impending summer makes it scout for additional power

Demand for power expected to touch 148 mu a day in summer
Talks on with Punjab to get additional power

BANGALORE: With the demand for power expected to reach a record high of 148 million units (mu) a day in summer, the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) has decided to scout for additional power straightway to gear up for the summer.

KPTCL, however, is stated to be finding it difficult to get additional power from other States as many of them are also facing power shortage. Besides, getting additional power is going to be a costly affair during summer.

Highly placed sources in KPTCL told The Hindu that it might cost between Rs. 6 and Rs. 7 per unit for the additional power as against the normal cost of about Rs. 2.50 to Rs. 3.

It was said that KPTCL would even try to get power from captive power producers (those generating power to take care of their own requirements ) if there was a need during summer. A similar effort had been made last summer.

Meanwhile, a KPTCL team is already negotiating with Punjab to get additional power during summer. Karnataka had entered into a banking arrangement with Punjab and supplied power during the monsoon when it (Karnataka) had additional power. Punjab was then facing shortage of power as it was summer for it.

Punjab, where it is raining now, would have to return power to Karnataka.

However, Karnataka is seeking additional power. The sources said Punjab had to supply about four million units of power a day from January.

However, KPTCL was trying to convince Punjab to supply a little more.

Summer, which begins in February and lasts till May for the power sector, is going to be a tight-rope walk for the power supplying utilities due to the sharp increase in power consumption.

Load shedding

The sources said that unscheduled load shedding of short duration was enforced in some areas of the State on Tuesday also to maintain the grid frequency level during the peak hours when the demand for power was more than the availability.

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