Full power supply will be restored to industrial units and commercial establishments in Tamil Nadu from June 1, 2014, when all restrictions and controls will be lifted, according to a statement by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Following acute power shortage since 2008, the then State government announced restriction on power consumption by industrial and commercial units with high-tension supply. These consumers faced a 90 per cent restriction on grid power usage between 6.00 pm and 10.00 pm and 20 per cent restriction rest of the day. Tamil Nadu had faced a shortage of about 4,000 MW on an estimated demand of about 12,000 MW. But the power shortage of the last five years has been fully resolved with new power generation capacity and power purchase agreements.
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has been instructed to fully utilise wind power generation, the Chief Minister said.
Over 2,500 MW of additional generation capacity has been added in the last three years, medium-term power purchase agreements have been finalised for about 500 MW and long-term agreements for about 3,800 MW will take effect from August, she said. The Indian Wind Power Association welcomed the State government’s decision on fully evacuating wind power, the association chairman K Kasturirangaian said. Tamil Nadu has over 7,500 MW of wind power capacity. The windy season lasts between May and October and generation will hit a high of about 80 million units a day. Over the last 15 days around 40 million units had been generated daily.
The association also renewed its request to establish at its own cost wind energy integration facilities in the 110 substations linked to wind farms. These will help to make accurate real-time estimates of wind power generated and help forecast wind generation, he said.