VIJAYAWADA: With the power demand drastically falling due to the lockdown imposed in view of covid-19, thermal power generation stations of APGENCO including five units of Rayalaseema Thermal Power Plant (RTPP), Kadapa, four units of Dr Narla Tatarao Thermal Power Station(Dr NTTPS), Vijayawada, one unit in Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station, Krishnapatnam, one unit of Kudigi and a 40 MW unit in Valluru have been kept under reserve shutdown. Instead of spending high amounts on power, the department has been procuring low-cost power at Rs 1.95 to Rs 2.25 per unit since the lockdown.
According to the officials, the demand fell by 22 per cent ever since the lockdown was announced last Tuesday (March 24).
“The electricity demand in the State plummeted due to stoppage of railways, closure of industries, commercial establishments and offices in wake of the pandemic. The demand fell to 154 million units (MU) in the first week of the lockdown against the 196 MU to 200 MU before the announcement. As a result, the power generating stations with capacity of 3,370 MW of APGenco have been kept under reserve shutdown,” the officials apprised energy minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy on Sunday.
With the discoms revenue taking a severe beating due to the lockdown, the officials have been pragmatically managing energy purchase to generate savings even during adversity.
“We kept all the high cost generation units under reserve shutdown. Instead of spending Rs 5 per unit on an average on power from such units, we are optimising power procurement by purchasing from Power Exchange India Ltd at per unit cost of Rs 1.95 to Rs 2.25,” joint managing director of APTRANSCO KVN Chakradhar Babu said.
Demand plummets
March 18: 200 MU
March 23 (a day after Janata Curfew): 178 MU
March 24 (lockdown announced): 171MU
March 25 (lockdown commenced) : 158 MU
March 26: 154 MU
March 27: 155 MU
March28: 156 MU
22% decline in power demand in AP ever since lockdown was announced last Tuesday
27% decline in power demand in India