Patiala: Three generating units at Punjab power plants on Friday remained shut, forcing Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to rely heavily on outside power as electricity demand crossed 16,444 MW amid low coal stocks. One unit each at state-run Ropar thermal plant, Nabha Power Limited’s Rajpura plant and Talwandi Sabo Power Limited’s Banawala plant was shut because of technical glitches, officials said. Ropar unit was revived by evening, while units at the two independent power producers were expected to resume operations soon. With generation capacity constrained, Punjab over-drew power from northern grid. Against its scheduled allocation of 11,568 MW, the state drew 12,068 MW at 9.15am, an over-drawal of 499 MW.Power demand had peaked at 16,292 MW at 12.30pm on Thursday, compared with 16,598 MW at 9.30am on Wednesday. The corresponding peak last year was 10,690 MW, indicating a year-on-year increase of more than 5,600 MW.Coal reserves varied considerably across power plants on Sept 10. Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant at Lehra Mohabbat had stocks for 11 days, Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Power Plant at Ropar for 29 days and Guru Amar Das Thermal Plant at Govindwal Sahib for 18 days. Nabha Power Limited’s Rajpura plant had coal for seven days, while Talwandi Sabo Power Limited’s Banawala plant had stocks for four days.By 6.33pm, gross generation exceeded 4,000 MW, comprising 527 MW from hydel sources, 1,866 MW from the two independent producers and 1,704 MW from state-owned thermal plants. Total load was 11,596 MW.Drawal from central grid fell to 7,500 MW against the scheduled 7,954 MW. Urban industry, rural domestic consumers and other categories faced power cuts of up to four hours. Officials said efforts were under way to restore the remaining units and augment coal supplies to the independent producers.
