PSPCL hydel power supply plummets to 25% of capacity, rural areas bear brunt

Rural areas of the district have witnessed power cuts extending up to six hours in recent days as the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) struggles to meet the demand.
The cuts in rural areas, a PSPCL source said, were necessary to ensure supply for urban areas.
Power supply across the state is taking a hit as hydel power production has fallen steeply amid reduced water flow in rivers on which the hydroelectric plants have been set-up, a source within PSPCL not wishing to be named said.
According to the official website, the total load fluctuated around 8,000 megawatts, of which only 4,868 MW was being generated in the state. Notably, hydel power contributed just 241 MW against a capacity of approximately 1,000 MW.
For the remaining demand, the PSPCL had to turn to the central pool, costing the state almost twice the usual sum, the source revealed. “The demand has peaked to record levels in recent days, with it at one point touching an unprecedented 10,000 MW,” the source added.
The hydel power plants at the Ranjit Sagar Dam and the Upper Bari Doab Canal plants were shut amid low water levels in river Ravi, the official website showed. Only the plants with reservoirs like the Mukerian Hydel Project are generating power at the time.
In the absence of hydel power, the PSPCL turns to thermal power and the independent power plants (IPPs), which are not a public utility. According to production breakdown available on the PSPCL website, even these were not functioning to their full capacity. The Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant, which had a capacity of 920 MW, was producing only 657 MW, Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Power Plant was producing only 717 MW against a capacity of 840 MW. Among the IPPS, the Goindwal Plant, which the state government recently acquired for a whopping ₹1,080 crore, produced just 204 MW against the capacity of 540 MW.
Addressing the surge in demand, the PSPCL source said, “The prolonged cold wave has forced people to use more electricity to stay warm. With the free quota of 300 units, people are using heaters and geysers more.”
Of late, power cuts have also been witnessed in the urban pockets of the city. These, however, were due to off-season maintenance activity, PSPCL’s Ludhiana officer chief engineer Inderpal Singh Saini said.
“We send out flash messages to the consumers before these scheduled cuts so that they can make necessary arrangements in advance,” he added.