The power supply position in the State returned to normalcy on Friday after striking workers resumed work and restored most of the power stations in the Seemandhra region.
These stations were shut down during the week against the Centre’s move to carve out a separate State of Telangana.
The State was able to meet the peak demand of about 10,111 MW, leaving a gap of about 500 MW on Friday, according to the Southern Regional Load Despatch Centre.
Seemandhra electricity employee unions called off their strike after talks with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday, and within hours employees returned to work. Thereafter, the employees initially restored hydel power generation at the Srisailam pump house and Sileru hydel projects.
K. Vijayanand, Managing Director of AP Genco, told Business Line that the Vijayawada and Rayalaseema thermal power plants, which were shut down during the strike, have been restored. Hydel power generation at Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar and Sileru commenced late on Thursday.
“In fact, the State is able to supply about 10,200 MW of power on Friday. Of this about 5,300 MW was from AP Genco. Barring units that are under annual maintenance at Vijayawada and Rayalaseema thermal plants, most of the units have begun to function normally, bringing relief to consumers,” he said.
Nearly 50,000 employees from the Seemadndhra region had struck work for over five days, plunging more than half of the State into darkness. Even essential services were impacted.
Cyclonic storm Pahilin, hovering about 500 km off the Andhra Pradesh coast, has resulted in heavy rains and gusty winds, bringing down the temperature. The power demand too has come down in the State.