The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Rain brings down power consumption in State

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Monday, Mar 17, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Rain brings down power consumption in State

B. S. Satish Kumar

Daily consumption has reduced by 22 million units

Officials term it as a ‘temporary phenomenon’
Demand for power is estimated to touch 148 mu this summer

BANGALORE: Rain in several districts of the State in the last few days has made a positive impact on the power supply scenario.

The State’s daily power consumption has reduced by about 22 million units (mu) following the rain.

Sources in the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) told The Hindu that the daily power consumption, which touched 135.39 mu on Wednesday dropped to 113.55 mu on Saturday after two days of rain.

The dip in consumption is being mainly attributed to the reduction in power consumption by irrigation pumpsets of farmers in the rural areas of some of the districts following the rain.

Also, the reduction in the use of air-conditioners and fans in towns has contributed to an extent in bringing down the power consumption.

However, the sources noted that the reduction in power consumption was a “highly temporary” phenomenon and the consumption would shoot up soon after the rain stopped.

Some of the areas in the State received rain in the last two days due to the depression over the south-east Bay of Bengal off the Sri Lanka-Tamil Nadu coast and off the south-western Arabian Sea.

The rain in the parched districts like Chitradurga, Bangalore Rural, Ramanagara and Mysore is said to have reduced the power consumption, as these districts have a large number of irrigation pumpsets.

The IP sets in the State account for nearly 27 to 30 per cent of the State’s total power consumption.

Though the reduction in power consumption is a temporary phenomenon, the massive reduction has come in handy for the electricity supply companies (ESCOMs) to manage the power supply situation during the peak of summer.

March is the peak summer season for the power sector when the State’s consumption touches the highest in the calendar year.

It is during this time that the ESCOMs undertake a tight rope walk as the woes of the power-starved State increase following aggressive shooting up of demand for power.

The sources said that the reduction in power consumption would help conserve hydel energy which could be used when the consumption increases in later days. Also, the temporary reduction in consumption would help reduce the overdrawing of power from the central generating stations.

The demand for power is estimated to touch an all-time high of 148 mu during this summer.

As it is not possible to meet such a high demand, unscheduled load shedding is being introduced in several areas of the State to protect grid stability as and when the power supply frequency crashes due to the increase in power demand beyond the availability.

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