With the electricity scenario in the state continuing to be grim, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has decided to increase load shedding and forced weekly off on industrial units.
A unit of the 210 megawatt (MW) Ropar thermal plant went out of operation after it developed a snag on Friday, forcing the corporation to impose unscheduled cuts in rural and urban areas. The unit was restored late in the evening.
Despite having taken load-shedding measures, the gap between demand and supply is still around 1500 MW. Power cuts in both rural and urban areas continue even as their duration has been reduced.
PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) A Venu Prasad said it was decided in a meeting to extend the compulsory weekly-off imposed on the industry in the central, north and west zones to entire Punjab.
Director (distribution) DPS Grewal, director (generation) Parmjeet Singh and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) director (technical) Yogesh Tandon and other senior officials participated in the meeting.
Also, the PSPCL has taken up with the northern regional dispatch centre (Delhi) seeking enhancement of transmission capacity to allow more import of power from outside the state immediately, he said.
{{/usCountry}}Also, the PSPCL has taken up with the northern regional dispatch centre (Delhi) seeking enhancement of transmission capacity to allow more import of power from outside the state immediately, he said.
{{/usCountry}}The CMD said to ensure 8-hour supply to farmers and uninterrupted power to other consumers, regulatory measures imposed on industrial consumers recently helped PSPCL improve supply to agriculture sector.
“The situation may improve as rains are expected this week,” he said.