The peak power demand in Telangana has spiked to an all time high of 13,168 MW on Friday, surpassing the demand of 13,162 MW of the combined Andhra Pradesh recorded on March 23, 2014.
The State’s per capita consumption of 1,896 units of electricity, a growth indicator, has exceeded the country’s average of 1,181 units.
Telangana supplies 24-hour power to the agriculture sector including various lift irrigation schemes and meets the increased industrial demand as fresh capacity has been added over the past five years.
During the formation of Telangana in 2014, the highest demand for power was 5,661 MWs under the jurisdiction of both the Discoms--SPDCL and NPDCL. The current demand shows a whopping 132.6 per cent growth.
While in 2014, 47,338 million units were consumed, in 2018-19 it has shot up to 68,147 million units. In six years the State recorded 44 per cent higher consumption, as against the country’s average consumption growth of 23 per cent.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been personally monitoring the progress of the power sector.
D Prabhakar Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of TSGenco and TSTransco, said, “From a power crisis situation during the formation of State, there has been significant transformation. The CM’s plan to make the State power surplus would be realised by completing the Yadadri and the Bhadradri Plants.”
Before formation of the State, the farm sector used to get four to five hours power supply. But subsequently, the farm sector is being supplied nine-hours power supply. From January 1, 2018, all the pump sets in the State get 24-hour power supply. Prior to June 2, 2014, demand from the farm sector was about 2,000 MWs. But with the Lift Irrigation schemes, the demand has shot up to 6,000 MWs. The total number of connections in the farm sector, which were about 19.02 lakh in 2014 has grown to 24.31 lakh now.
The number of power connections in the State has gone up from 1.11 crore in 2014 to 1.54 crore in 2019, an increase of 38.61 per cent.
The State has captive power generation capacity of 16,246 MW now is up from 7,778 MWs in 2014. The solar capacity has gone up from 74 MWs to 3,650 MWs now.