Two power plants units in Punjab go out of operation amid demand surge
A 660 MW unit of Talwandi Sabo and 220 MW of Ropar Thermal Plant face boiler related issues; likely to be fixed in 48 hours
With the demand for power peaking amid the sweltering summer, hovering above 12,000 MW, a unit of the Talwandi Sabo Power and Ropar Power plant have once again gone out of operation, resulting in an 880 MW power shortage in the state.
“A 660 MW unit of Talwandi Sabo and 220 MW of Ropar Thermal Plant have gone out because of boiler related issues. It is expected that both plants will be back to generating power by next two days as engineers are working overtime to address technical problems,” a PSPCL official.
Notably, Talwandi Sabo is a vulnerable plant and has faced boiler leakage problems in the past as well. In the last two years, the plant has posed problems for the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited by going out of operation amid peak demand.
In the current scenario, the maximum power demand is poised to cross 16,300 MW against last year’s 15,300 MW. The tripping of a 660 MW unit then is a matter of concern during the peak paddy season.
Addressing the demand-supply balance, the PSPCL official said, “The enhancement of transmission capacity to 10,000 MW and additional power banking arrangements (3,000 MW) and solar power is likely to help the PSPCL meet the peak demand. However, it is necessary that all internal power plants work properly. The internal generation capacity of Punjab is 6,600 MW.”
The official added the top management has taken a stern view of repeated outages at the Talwandi Sabo power plant every summer and sought explanation from the management of the power plant, which is the state’s biggest in the private sector.
The outage comes at a time when the PSPCL is facing criticism for paying hefty fixed costs to private plants in winters, when there is no power demand.
It is also worrying PSPCL as it leads to a crisis for the corporation, which is already drawing maximum power from outside the state.
Practically, the supply from the grid has been increased with no capacity addition being done. The proposal of supercritical units at Ropar is still not at any discussion level.
Punjab has around 14.5 lakh tubewells and with their operation, the demand is set to remain above 15,000 MW.
In case of breakdown of thermal units, a short-term problem may be witnessed.
The water level at the Ranjit Sagar Dam may be an additional cause of worry as all four units operated at more than 100% capacity during the paddy season last year.
