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.

The minister blamed the failure of the previous government in executing any major power project during its tenure. While the demand for electricity in Tamil Nadu has been growing at a rate of 400mw a year, and 4,000mw during the last 10 years, fresh capacity addition has been only 531mw during the period.

Now, new power projects for a generation capacity of 4,100mw are proposed to be set up in the state to meet the increasing demand. The projects include the 500mw each expansion of Mettur and Kuntha plants, a 1,000mw project in Tuticorin and another 1,600mw joint venture of TNEB and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd in the same district.

The proposed 4,000mw ultra mega project by Reliance Power at Nellore near Chennai would also help Tamil Nadu as it would get 800mw from the project, expected to be commissioned in five-six years.

Since it would take a minimum of three years for at least some new projects to be operational, Veerasamy has been seeking the support of industrialists to meet the power shortage.

He suggested three options: to operate in night shifts, use captive gensets, (the state government would consider Vat exemption on furnace oil) and to work on Sundays, declaring weekly holiday on any other day. All India Manufacturer’s Organisation, TN unit, has accepted the minister’s suggestion.