Peak power deficit in the country fell to 3.3 per cent last month due to improved coal supplies, additional generation capacity and connectivity of the southern transmission network with the National Grid.
Peak power deficit is the shortage in electricity supply when demand is at its highest.
As per latest data by the Central Electricity Authority, peak electricity shortfall in December was 3.3 per cent against 4.2 per cent in the same month of 2013.
Total power demand during December 2014 was 1,39,479 MW, of which 1,34,940 MW was met leaving a shortfall of 4,539 MW.
“Double-digit increase in coal production during the last quarter (October-December) is one of the important reasons for increase in thermal power generation, last month,” Debashish Mishra, Senior Director (Consulting), Deloitte India, told PTI.
Coal production
Domestic coal production grew 14.1 per cent during the quarter against 1 per cent in the year-ago period, an official data said.
A Power Ministry official said: “The primary reason for some improvement in the peak power deficit year-on-year is commissioning of new power projects which have added to the installed generation capacity and synchronisation of the southern grid with the National Grid.”
Southern transmission grid was synchronised with the National Grid in January last year. The region’s peak power deficit increased to 4.3 per cent during December 2014 from 3.7 per cent in December 2013.
“This may be due to increase in power demand from the region,” the official added.
Peak power demand in the southern region states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Puducherry and Lakshadweep last month was 35,668 MW, of which 1,531 MW was the deficit.
The region’s demand in the same period last year was 34,816 MW, of which 1,275 MW was the shortfall, the data said.
North Indian states of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan recorded a shortage of 5.3 per cent in December last year. This is an improvement from the previous year’s 7.1 per cent.
Electricity demand in the western region comprising Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa was nearly met in December 2014 as the region’s peak power deficit came down to 0.4 per cent from last year’s 2.5 per cent in the same month.
Peak power shortage in eastern India (West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha etc) remained almost the same at 1.7 per cent compared with 1.5 per cent in the same month last year.
However, the northeastern states saw a sharp rise in peak power deficit last month to 11.8 per cent from 5.9 per cent in December 2013, CEA data said.