Rising power demand: PSEBEA issues appeal to public, politicians regarding Current Power Scenario in Punjab
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ June 19,2024
Er. Jasvir Dhiman, President of the PSEB Engineers’ Association (PSEBEA)stated that the record heat wave of 2024 has drawn significant global attention due to its unprecedented intensity, duration, and widespread impact. Punjab, in particular, has been experiencing record-breaking temperatures. These extreme heat wave conditions have directly impacted power consumption, leading to significant spikes.
The state recorded its highest-ever peak demand of 16078MW on June 19, 2024, even before the full paddy load is yet to commence. In May the electricity consumption increased by 37% on an energy basis and 22% on MW basis as compared to the same period last year. In the first 15 days of June, the conditions are no better. Overall there is a 42% increase in energy consumption and 33% increase in maximum demand. While PSPCL/PSTCL is currently meeting the demand without implementing any power cuts, the situation has been exacerbated by the commencement of paddy transplantation.
According to current forecasts, the monsoon is not expected to arrive until June 27th, meaning there may be no relief from the heat until then. The situation has worsened with rampant power theft. The number of high-loss feeders with more than 50% losses has gone up to 414 from 230.
Er. Dhiman emphasised that despite extreme staff shortages, Power Engineers and employees are working 24×7 to provide the uninterrupted power supply. However, there may be some instances where there may be some power disruption due to equipment failure.
He appealed to the public to cooperate with the engineers/employees who make every effort to restore the supply in a time-bound manner and not to gherao PSPCL Sub stations, Offices etc or obstruct the duties being performed by the officials and engineers at this crucial juncture in an unprecedented situation.
While the Punjab power sector is prepared to provide quality and reliable power supply considering annual load growth, the current heat wave, unprecedented in the last 3-4 decades, requires some restraint from consumers in their electricity usage.
He appealed to the public to set their air conditioners to 26 degrees for the next 12 days to manage the load effectively. Furthermore, he urged agricultural consumers to delay paddy sowing by 7 days to conserve water and electricity, and to use only PAU recommended less water requiring short-duration PR varieties. He also requested farmers to irrigate only the fields where the saplings have been planted and avoid watering the empty fields. Use maximum available canal water.
All progressive politicians must support PSPCL in curbing the theft of power.
Rising power demand: PSEBEA issues appeal to public, politicians regarding Current Power Scenario in Punjab. Er. Dhiman further appealed to Bhagwant Mann, Chief Minister of Punjab, to recognize the seriousness of the situation and issue necessary directions to PSPCL to implement demand-side management measures to control power demand. Er Dhiman also urged the Chief Minister to direct PSPCL and PSTCL to recruit sufficient staff and to ensure adequate power for the next year, Er Dhiman called for vigorous action on establishing a 250 MW solar plant at GNDTP Bathinda and two 800 MW supercritical thermal units at GGSSTP Ropar under the state sector. These generation plants are crucial to meeting the future power demands of the State.