Blaming the previous DMK regime for the power crisis faced by the state, electricity minister Natham R. Viswanathan claimed that the additional load-shedding was unavoidable in view of the strict regulation enforced by the Union ministry of power to maintain grid discipline.
He assured that on commissioning of the new power projects of 3,300 MW, the situation would improve and uninterrupted power would be supplied to all consumers.
In a statement here Friday, Mr Viswanathan said during the tenure of the previous (DMK) regime, no effective action was taken for capacity addition which led to a gap of 3,500 MW between demand and generation.
At present, power demand varies from 11,500 to 12,800 MW and daily consumption varies from 230 million units (MU) to 250 MU.
Explaining the reasons for the power crisis, Mr Viswanathan said the maximum wind generation realised, which was 3,980 MW on August 19 this year, drastically fell to 299 MW on August 23.
He said hydro stations which would be utilised to mitigate the variation in wind power could not be used due to the failure of the southwest monsoon.
Besides, the state had lost 1,045 MW of power from the Central generating stations at Ramagundam and Talcher, he said.
The minister said corridor congestion has added to the woes of Tangedco as it could realise only 232 MU of power from Gujarat and the northern states, which is just 27 per cent of the purchased quantum of 855 MU.
“In the wake of the northern grid collapse, the Union power ministry has enforced strict regime for grid maintenance when the frequency falls below 49.50 Hz with effect from August 16.
Violation of the above orders will attract severe punishment, including automatic disconnection of inter-state transmission lines,” he said.