Hyderabad: From four hours of power cuts in the capital barely three years ago, to the promise of 24x7 free supply to the agriculture next year, the state has journeyed from darkness to light. No other state provides round the clock power to the agriculture sector. When it was formed in 2014, Telangana state had a power deficit of 2000 million units (MU). This situation has reversed and the state is projected to have a surplus of 3,282 MU next year.
In 2014, the total power demand was 50,916 MU and the government could supply 48,788 MU, a deficit of 2,178 MU. In a turnaround overseen by Transco and Genco chairman and managing director Devulapally Prabhakar Rao, the state will have surplus power of 3,282 MU though the demand is projected to grow to 64,291 MU for 2018-19. The per capita power consumption in the state is 1,394 units, above the national average of 1,010 units. The state has added a record 18,785 MU in four years, taking the power availability from 48,788 MU in 2014 to an estimated 67,573 MU next year.
TS Genco has set a target of producing 27,000 MW of power by 2020, a major portion earmarked for lift irrigation projects and agriculture pump sets. Lift irrigation projects will need 11,500 MW, up from a mere 400 MW four years ago. To meet this demand, TS Genco has taken up work on six new power projects with total capacity of 6,840 MW. The 600 MW Kakatiya Thermal Power Project Stage II was commissioned and synchronised with the grid in October 2015.
In the next three years, power officials are expecting the capacity will be about 16,306 MW, the additional power coming from Kothagudem Thermal Power Station (800 MW), Bhadradri (,1080 MW), NTPC (4,000 MW), Yadadri (4,000 MW), Singareni Collieries (800 MW) and from central generating stations (800 MW). The government has signed agreements with Chhattisgarh to purchase 1,000 MW to 2,000 MW. In solar power generation, the state stood topped in country with 3,000 MW. An energy official said this would go up. An energy official said that there would be no gap between demand and supply.
