Assam's peak hour electricity demand has increased from 18OO MW to 2500 MW: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Himanta Biswa Sarma said that state’s peak hour electricity demand has increased from 18OO MW to 2500.
He said, “ The electricity scenario will be reviewed on September 8 during a cabinet meet.”
There is load shedding the state. Sarma said, “ There is load shedding for some time. Earlier, electricity demand during the peak hours was 1800 MW.
State on its own generate 165 MW while the rest are purchased. It is astounding that electricity demand has gone up that high.”
He added, “ State government has entered into arrangements. We purchase power from open sources.
The rate of electricity is Rs 10 per MW. We have to purchase 700 MW of electricity from open source to meet the demand in peak hours and supply electricity constantly to the people. We have to pay Rs 6 crore daily.
We will need Rs 720 crore additionally for the purchase of electricity for four months.”
He said, “ We will discuss if we can restrict the peak hour load to 2000 MW by load shedding. We are exploring different things. We will see if tariffs can be increased.
There are two factors for the increase of electricity demand in the state. Firstly, 50 MW of power is used for railway electrification works. Secondly, due to the rapid industrialization of the state, power demands go up.”
He said, “But in the next year, Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Ltd (NUPPL) will supply 260 MW from the NUPPL’s 3×660 MW Ghatampur Thermal Power Plant.
