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Friday, Jan 04, 2008
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Power supply in Delhi plunges

Staff Reporter

Dip in gas supply by ONGC

Power cuts reported from many parts of the Capital
No need to worry, says Power Department

NEW DELHI: The New Year has begun on a not very positive note for the Delhi Government’s Power Department -- a dip in gas supply from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has led to a shortfall in power generation.

“One ONGC platform has closed down since Wednesday morning and it will remain so for the next 20 days or more. The gas which it was supplying to NTPC and Delhi has reduced and this in turn has affected power generation,” said a senior Power Department official.

Surplus power

Though the decrease in power generation is between 180 and 200 MW and power cuts were reported from several areas in the city, the Power Department says Delhi is unlikely to face a crisis: “Right now there is no need to worry. The surplus power that was being sold to other States including Uttarakhand and Haryana is being used to meet the city’s own demand.”

The official said production of power at NTPC’s three power plants at Dadri, Anta and Auraiya from where 10 per cent of the generation is allocated to Delhi has also been affected.

“The overall production of power in several units has come down. The gas unit at Dadri that produces 88 MW is now producing 30 MW, Anta and Auriya that produce 44 and 71 MW are producing 15 and 25 MW respectively.”

To tide over the shortfall, the Power Department has already asked NTPC to increase the production using liquid fuel.

“Using liquid fuel is an expensive proposition, but efforts need to be made to make up for the decline in production. BSES too has made arrangements for procuring 100 MW of gas from the Eastern parts and that should be available from Friday.”

Due to the shortage of gas, the Gas Turbine Plant, which otherwise generates about 300 MW of power, produced 133 MW of power on Wednesday. Several areas in North, South West and East Delhi reported power cuts ranging from two to four hours.

The dip in mercury too has put additional pressure on the Power Department; with the fall in temperature, the consumption of power is on the rise.

What has added to the Power Department’s woes is that a number of States including Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are overdrawing from the Northern Grid causing the frequency to fluctuate.

Delhi’s total power generation on Thursday stood at 1,147 MW, while the maximum load on the system was recorded as 3,160 MW.

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