Power crisis: No immediate relief in sight for Kolkata

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Suchetana Haldar

Posted online: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 01:52:52
Updated: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 01:52:52

kolkata, April 22 Despite state power minister Mrinal Banerjee’s promises of a power-cut free summer, there seems to be no respite in sight. Pockets of Kolkata continue to plunge into darkness owing to the demand-supply mismatch of power even before the scorching summer began.

The residents of the city can only depend on Nor’westers for respite. The power crisis could be minimised once the new units of power plants at Sagardighi, Santaldih, Bakreswar and Durgapur begin commercial operations in full swing.

“It will take some weeks for the operations to get stable. Power generation will improve once they begin full-fledged operations,” said P Mukhopadhyay, Chief Engineer, State Load Despatch Centre.

Meanwhile, the supply side bottleneck notwithstanding, the demand for power continues to soar.

The evening peak hour demand this summer has been re-estimated at 1380 MW to 1400 MW each day (during week days from Monday to Friday) in the CESC area.

There is likely to be a 50 MW shortfall in the CESC area, which roughly translates to around 20 minutes of power cut on any given day.

The shortfall could go up to 80 MW each day leading to a 45-minute power cut. Similarly, the shortfall outside CESC area is around 200 MW today.

“The demand was slightly less on Monday which was a bandh day. The demand fell by a 200 MW,” said Biswarup Mukherjee, spokesperson for the CESC.

“The demand-supply gap could fluctuate depending on the situation on a particular day. The demand crashes by 1200 MW after a Nor’wester,” said Mukhopadhyay.

The situation could only turn worse if the central power suppliers such as the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) cut down supply, said a power department official.

POWER CHECK
The West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd operates four power stations in Bakreswar, Santaldih, Kolaghat and Bandel

Bakreswar thermal power plant
*It currently operates three 210 MW units in the first phase.
*Another two 210 MW have been added with total installed capacity at 1050 MW.
*Another 600 MW will be implemented during 11th plan.

* Santaldih thermal power plant:
*It currently operates 4 units of 120 MW
*A fifth unit of 250 MW has been added
*Another 250 MW unit is scheduled to be commissioned in 2009.

Kolaghat thermal power station:
* Six units of 210 MW each are already operational
* Four units of 900 MW Purulia pumped storage unit was commissioned.
* The first unit of the Sagardighi thermal power project with an installed capacity of 300 MW was inaugurated in March this year. It was the first Indo-Chinese joint venture in the country.
* A new 300 MW unit of Durgapur Projects Limited was opened on March 31, this year. —ENS

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