Power situation in Odisha continues to remain grim even after the resumption of power generation from the first unit of Ib Thermal Power Station (ITPS). But there is some solace for the people. The State Government is contemplating to reduce load shedding from three hours to two hours from Sunday once the ITPS unit stabilises and generates power up to its capacity.
The first unit of Odisha Power Generation Corporation’s ITPS at Banaharpalli in Jharsuguda district was taken off the grid from July 1 midnight for annual overhauling. The unit, with generating capacity of 210 MW, was synchronised to the grid at 11.36 am on Saturday, two days ahead of schedule.
The return of the unit to the grid has come as a relief for the State, which has been currently passing through a power crisis entailing load shedding for three hours. The situation marginally improved on Saturday with one unit of NTPC’s Farakka Thermal Power Station providing 65 MW to the State. However, another unit of the thermal station went out of the grid resulting in a net loss of 30 MW, sources in Gridco said.
Temporary outage of one of the two units of the independent power plant (IPP) of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) further deepened the crisis on Saturday. The State was getting 115 MW from the JSPL unit.
Even as the IPP of Sterlite Energy at Jharsuguda is able to generate more power, it is supplying 370 MW to State grid due to low quality of coal, sources said, adding that Gridco is not in a position to afford the cost of power if imported coal is blended with local coal. In view of the crisis, Gridco has requested the NTPC authorities to complete the annual maintenance of the sixth unit of Kaniha’s stage-II ahead of schedule. The State’s share from the unit with 500 MW capacity is 45 MW. Similar request was made to the authorities of the Talcher Thermal Power Station (TTPS). The third unit of TTPS, with generating capacity of 60 MW, is under annual maintenance.
With monsoon being erratic, there is no improvement in the hydro position in the major reservoirs of the State. The water level in Rengali reservoir has marginally improved from 109.72 mt to 109.86 mt. The water level in Balimela reservoir has come to the minimum draw down level. The second and third units of Burla hydro power station, which developed technical glitches a couple of days ago, are likely to become functional on Tuesday, official sources said.
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