Gridco search for buyers to sell surplus power...

 

Faced with problem of plenty, Gridco, the power trading utility of the Orissa State Government, is now  searching for buyers.

The monsoon, which remained excessively active in most parts of the country, played the spoilsport. More than excess rainfall in almost all the States coupled with the onset of winter has led to a slump in power demand, especially in the northern States.

The average day demand on Monday came down to about 1900 MW against 2500 MW on Sunday. Similarly, the evening peak demand was slightly more than 3000 MW against 3500 MW before the cyclone hit the State. Odisha is having surplus power of about 500 MW due to fall in demand from all the four distribution companies. The present power demand of Ganjam district is half of its normal demand of 450-500 MW.

Another factor that has led to less consumption is the infrastructure that was devastated by the cyclone in Ganjam, Gajapati and Puri districts. Besides, power supply in other districts is yet to be restored completely.

Though the three other distribution companies - CESU, NESCO and WESCO - claimed to have restored normalcy in power supply, the fall in demand has given rise to suspicion that either power supply to rural pockets have not been restored fully or the utilities have resorted to unscheduled power cuts to save their bulk supply bills. Even as CESU and NESCO claimed a near normal situation in their areas of operation, several villages in the coatsal districts of Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore are still water logged posing hindrance to the restoration work. Flash floods have also caused extensive damage in the tribal dominated Mayurbhanj district which comes under NESCO distribution network.

With a fall in bulk demand for power, Gridco is surrendering its share of power from the central pool, sources in the trading utility said. The state power trading corporation surrendered 303 MW to the Eastern Region Electric Board (EREB) on Sunday and the situation remained similar on Monday, SLDC sources said.

Source