Jayalalithaa asks Prime Minister for power from Central pool

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Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa on Monday requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allocate additional 1,000 MW power from the central pool for nearly a year.

She also asked him to issue instructions to speed up the central power projects coming up in Tamil Nadu. In a letter to the Prime Minister, copies of which were released to the media, Jayalalithaa said: “Due to increasing demand and stagnant generation of power, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) is resorting to scheduled load-shedding of around 1,500 MW and frequent unscheduled load-shedding.”

The measure hit the farming community worst while affecting the industrial and domestic sectors, the letter stated. Additional generation of power in Tamil Nadu may take one or two years, since many new projects are in various stages of construction, she said. “Even the Central power projects such as the Kudankulam Atomic Power Station (2x1000 MW) and Neyveli Thermal Power Station Stage II expansion (2x250 MW), which were expected to commence power generation by the year 2009 are yet to be completed and commissioned, causing serious concern to the state government,” the letter notes.

Stating that she had taken measures to improve energy efficiency and reduce the gap between the demand and supply, Jayalalithaa in her letter said that despite these efforts, “The power shortage is likely to continue for some more time due to lack of capacity for additional generation of power.” “Therefore, I request your personal intervention to immediately allocate additional power of 1,000 MW from June 2011 to May 2012, from the Central pool to meet the genuine needs of the farmers and the public,” the letter notes. According to a policy note of the state government’s energy department, the total installed capacity — excluding renewable energy sources — is 10,214 MW, including the state’s share from the Central pool.

The average power demand for 2011-12 is projected to be 14,224 MW, and for 2012-13 it is expected to be 15,517 MW. Tamil Nadu would get 325 MW as its share from the 2x250 MW power project put up by Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) and 925 MW from the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project built by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) in the Tirunelvelli district. According to NPCIL, the first unit at Kudankulam is expected to start commercial operations in June and the second in March 2012. Meanwhile, the first of the 3x500 MW power units promoted by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Tamil Nadu Energy Ltd is expected to be synchronised with the power grid this November.