Tamil Nadu set to lose USP of uninterrupted power supply

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Chennai: Tamil Nadu, which has so far been luring industries with its USP of uninterrupted power supply, is on the verge of losing this advantage. An acute power shortage, which may see industries going without power for hours, and load-shedding/outages stare at residential users as well. According to official sources, the state government is hopeful of getting power from Assam, Haryana and the central pool to ward off an impending crisis. With no immediate power projects going live, the state is turning to hydel power generation from sub-Himalayan rivers to overcome the crisis. "It is the only hope for Tamil Nadu, as the country itself is facing 15% shortage in power generation", said state energy secretary, R Satapathy.

With an installed capacity of 10,000mw from the state, central and private sector power projects and 3,500mw wind power capacity, Tamil Nadu has been boasting of surplus power. It has been one of its major selling points for attracting fresh investments.

However, the situation has turned for the worse and the state has woken up to realise its precarious power position. The demand-supply gap is as wide as 1,300mw—the present availability is only 7,500mw while the demand is at 8,800mw. There has been substantial new industrial investments in the state in recent months, increasing the annual incremental demand for power to 700mw from 400mw.

The state electricity minister, Arcot N Veersamy, said the state electricity board would have met all the demand but for a few unprecedented hitches that resulted in short supply of 2,500mw. During April-November, wind power generators used to supply over 1,500mw to the state grid. Change in wind pattern dried out that source of power much earlier than usual. Floods in Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd (NLC) and maintenance closure also deprived the state of 500mw. To top it, there has been a shortfall of 500mw from the Central pool as well.

Satapathy said Koodankulam atomic power project was scheduled to be on stream in December 2007 and Tamil Nadu would have got about 1,000mw from that project. However, now the project is expected to be commissioned in December 2008, and would help make the summer of 2009 less harsh, he said.