All India peak deficit of power dropped to three per cent in June as against 5.1 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago mainly on the back of sizeable generation capacity addition which more than doubled during the month, data by the Central Electricity Authority showed.
The peak demand of power in the country in June was 144,732 MW of which 140,441 MW was met, the data showed. Generating capacity addition for June was 2315 MW while the same last year was 978.67 MW.
However, the northern and north-eastern regions of the county faced high peak deficit at 5.4 per cent and seven per cent respectively.
The northern region comprising of Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand had peak demand of 50,883 MW in June of which 48,138 MW was met leaving a deficit of 5.4 per cent.
Jammu & Kashmir recorded the highest deficit at 18.8 per cent in the northern region followed by Uttar Pradesh at 12.1 per cent and Uttarakhand at two per cent.
“The northern region experiences maximum peak demand during summers. Generally, there is shortage of power in summers and then there are transmission constraints. That is why there is a high deficit in the region,” a CEA official said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to media.
The north-eastern part of the country including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura witnessed 2,356 MW peak demand while the power supplied to the region was 2,190 MW causing 7 per cent peak deficit.
Assam recorded the highest deficit in June among the seven sisters at 5.1 per cent followed by Nagaland at 2.4 per cent and Meghalaya at 2.3 per cent.
“The north-eastern region has witnessed growth in demand this year but the availability of power has not risen accordingly. There are transmission constraints in the region along with insufficient generation capacity,” the official said. The eastern region reported the lowest deficit in June at 0.7 per cent followed by the western region at 1.7 per cent and the southern region at 1.9 per cent.
According to a recent report by CEA titled Load Generation Balance Report, India is likely to face peak power deficit at 2.6 per cent in 2015-16 at 4,108 MW. The country had witnessed its lowest energy shortage since 1991-92 at 3.6 per cent in the last financial year ended March.
