Heat struck TSPL fails short to the aspirations of power consumers of Punjab

Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ June 19,2024

In the prevailing heat wave when the power demand is surging and breaking all previous records, once again one unit of 660 MW of Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL) Thermal plant shuts down.

The situation has turned ugly as it has forced the Punjab state power corporation limited (PSPCL) to manage the high demand. Yesterday at around 1 pm the power demand had touched 15963, the highest ever demand.

Punjab’s private thermal plant TSPL has 3 units of 660 MW each. At present only two units of 660 MW are working and one unit of 660 MW is not in operational mode.

“The pressure on powercom can be gauged from this that they are running the hydro power units of Ranjit Sagar Dam in the day time to meet the demand whereas RSD units are used to operate in the night” said a power engineer expert.

“At present the gross power generation from all sources including private, government thermal plants, solar, hydro are generating 5680  MW. The powercom is forced to shell out extra money to purchase power through exchange route. On June 18 2024 the powercom had purchased 588 lac units and 622 lac units on June 17,2024 through exchange as PSPCL reports” said an officer on the condition of anonymity.

When contacted the TSPL officials, they said “we are fixing the fault and unit will be functional by today evening.”

As per information the power plant is operated by TSPL, a subsidiary of Vedanta. The Engineering, procurement and construction contract is given to SEPCO1 of People’s Republic of China. TSPL is using China made Dongfang Steam turbine in three units, Steam generators of Harbin Boiler Co.Ltd. China. It’s the first Supercritical unit and one of the largest Greenfield power project in the State of Punja