PSPCL creating power bank for peak paddy season
PATIALA :The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has been banking power resources so that the state can better tide over the peak requirement season of sowing of paddy.
“To avoid purchasing high cost energy during summer and paddy season, surplus power during winter is banked to get it back during paddy season. These winters, 1,500 MW has already been banked. Similar arrangements will remain in place till May 2019 to bank around 6,000 million units of energy for the states of Madhya Pradesh, J&K, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh,” PSPCL chairman and managing director, Baldev Singh Sran said.
He added that the banked power will be returned by these states to Punjab during the next paddy and summer season and at least 2,000 MW would be available next year from June to September from banking. The CMD added that during November and December, PSPCL purchased 358 MUS from exchange costing ₹111 crore at an average rate of ₹3.09 per unit resulting into a saving of ₹19 crore.
“At the same time, 165 MU power worth ₹70 crore was sold at the average cost of ₹4.25/unit during morning/evening peak hours. Selling power during peak period and purchasing during lean demand period in highly surplus scenario were unthinkable till the recent past. Shrewdness in managing resources and scrapping out available margins has helped PSPCL achieve this. This will result into lower tariff during coming years by the same amount,” he said.
He added that in Punjab, the demand pattern was peculiar with June to September requiring around 12,500 MW, with October to May demand falling to around 6,000 MW during daytime. “The only option to deal with such huge variations in demand is to encourage power consumption in the state and find ways and means to sell the surplus power to other states during winter,” he said, adding that during September and October power rates in exchange remained high, at between ₹5 and ₹8 per unit, due to demand outside the state. He added that the PSPCL had saved between ₹2.42 and ₹2.49 per unit by selling 1,430 MUS during Sept/oct 2018 at average rate of ₹5.74 resulting into a total saving of ₹350 crore.