Will state soon see power cuts beyond 3,000 mw?

MahaVitaran denies reports of 8-hr load shedding; claims power cuts undertaken across the state, except Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune for 2-3 hrs

In view of the rapidly increasing demand for power, the state-run power distribution company MahaVitaran on Wednesday was forced to increase the load shedding to 1,900 MW from 1,357 MW, which was reported by the Free Press Journal on Tuesday. MahaVitaran claimed that power cuts were undertaken across the state, except Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune for two to three hours. It has denied media reports of eight-hour load shedding in some districts.

Confirming the load shedding, a Mahavitaran officer told this newspaper, “The state’s demand was reported at 29,600 MW, of which 7,200 MW was met by the stare-run MahaGenco, while the balance power was procured from the Central sector, independent power producers and power exchanges.” He said the MahaGenco, with a total generation capacity of 9,540 MW, daily requires 1,80,000 metric tonnes of coal but on Wednesday received 1,30,000 metric tonnes, of which 1,24,000 metric tonnes was used to generate 7,200 MW during peak period and 6,800 MW during offpeak period.

“Even though there was a shortfall of 1,200 MW from MahaGenco, the MahaVitaran is carrying out load shedding of 1,900 MW in the state,” admitted a MahaVitaran officer. He predicted that MahaVitaran will be left with no option but to increase the load shedding up to 3,000 MW if the demand rises to 30,000 MW or more.

A senior officer from the state energy department said the MahaGenco has a proper forecasting system and, accordingly, pursues its demand for coal with the coal companies so that generation is not affected. However, he noted a similar forecasting mechanism is missing in MahaVitaran as it needs to implement a proper plan during such a crisis.