With mercury levels rising in February itself, signalling an early summer, state discom, Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) has estimated the electricity demand in the state to go up to 50 million units (mu) per day against the present requirement of 41mu.
Of the total demand of 41mu per day, only 38mu is available in the state having the country’s major rivers — Ganga and Yamuna, which are harnessed for producing hydropower.
The shortage is adjusted through the power supplied from the central pool, open market or power cuts.
To meet the possible rise in demand during the summers, UPCL has demanded an additional supply of 300 megawatt (MW) from the Centre.
Anil Kumar, managing director (MD), UPCL, told TOI, “During a meeting with the Centre two days ago, we had requested the authorities to provide us with an additional 300MW of power for which other states are also vying. A final decision will be taken after February 28, as that additional supply is currently being given to Jammu & Kashmir till then.”
Kumar added that the Centre is also going to hold a meeting on the power generation in the gas-based power plants in the country, as many were closed due to an increase in the price of gas due to the Ukraine-Russia war.
“In that meeting, the Centre is likely to decide the gas price or the framework to supply it to the gas-based power generation plants, including the two in Uttarakhand having a capacity of 214 MW and 107MW, respectively. If the operations at the plants are resumed, then the supply shortage would decrease significantly,” said Kumar.
