Even though the Delhi government claims the state has adequate power tied up to meet its demand, it turns out that Delhi had overdrawn power from the northern grid to meet its electricity shortage as the temperature rose sharply over the last week. The state has overdrawn more than its share of power every day between April 15 and 18, contributing to grid chaos.
However, the Delhi government remains in a state of denial over its power problems. Delhi?s power secretary Rajendra Kumar has blamed overdrawal by other states for the reported drop in the frequency of the northern grid.Kumar also maintained that Delhi has adequate power available to meet its peak power demand. He said drop in grid frequency is responsible for loadshedding and power outages in Delhi.
In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court earlier this year, the Delhi government said there was a surplus of 98 mw power in Delhi as on Febuary 17, 2010. The capital will have 692 mw of surplus power during 2010-11 and 681 mw in 2011-12.
According to the statistics available with Delhi Transco, the state overdrew as much 473 mw from the grid to meet its peak power shortfall on April 16.
Significantly, power supply in Delhi remains a cause of concern as the state is gearing up to host the Commonwealth Games in October. Delhi?s power demand is projected to rise sharply during the forthcoming event.
Delhi is expected to get additional power supply from NTPC?s upcoming projects at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and Jhajjar in Haryana.
NTPC expects to commission these units by July-August. However, if the central utility fails to commission these units as per schedule, Delhi?s power woes will only get compounded.
