The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Load shedding enforced in State; Bangalore spared

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Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Load shedding enforced in State; Bangalore spared

Special Correspondent

Technical faults in two RTPS units lead to power shortage

The two units have a capacity of
210 MW each
There is a sudden shortage of about 1,000 MW of power

BANGALORE: Unscheduled load shedding has been enforced in all areas of the State, barring Bangalore, following sudden shortage of power due to technical faults in the two generating units in Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) as well as problems related to a couple of hydel stations. The power supplying companies resorted to unscheduled load shedding for nearly two hours during peak hours on Monday in most parts of the State.

According to sources in the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), the State is suddenly faced with a shortage of about 800 MW to 1,000 MW of power due to problems in different generating stations as well as the increase in consumption.

Two generating units with a capacity of 210 MW each have stopped generation in RTPS which has a total of seven generating units. While the first unit in this station had stopped working since February 21 due to some mechanical problem, the third unit stopped working on Monday due to a technical problem associated with boiler tube.

What has complicated the problem is that the depletion of water storage in some of the hydel power stations, including Kadra and Kodasalli, has come in the way of generation of hydel power to the full extent from these stations, sources in the Load Despatch Centre said.

In addition, a unit of the National Thermal Power Corporation’s generating station at Talcher in Orissa too had developed problems reducing Karnataka’s share of power from this central generating station.

However, this problem is learnt to have been rectified later in the day.

The ESCOMs are finding it tough to manage the power supply situation as the power consumption too is increasing steadily and hovering around 130 million units a day.

However, the situation is expected to improve in three to five days when the two units are likely to resume power generation in RTPS.

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