Telangana Considers Shift to Daytime Farm Power To Curb 3,000-MW Grid Deficit

Hyderabad: Telangana’s roughly 28 lakh agricultural borewells are emerging as a major pressure point for the power grid, contributing to a 3,000-MW deficit during peak hours, even as the state has surplus solar power available during the day.

This mismatch has led the state expert committee on El Niño to recommend moving agricultural power supply from pre-dawn to daytime hours.

The energy department told the committee that the deficit emerges during early morning hours when agricultural pumps, domestic households and municipal and industrial systems draw power simultaneously. Solar generation is unavailable before sunrise, leaving the 3,000-MW gap to be met through thermal power, hydel generation or purchases from outside the state.

Those purchases can cost Telangana around Rs 10 per unit on national power exchanges such as the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL). Spot prices rise during morning and evening peak periods as demand increases across the country, the energy department said.

During daylight hours, however, the power situation reverses. Telangana has abundant daytime electricity from utility-scale solar plants, rooftop systems and solarised agricultural feeders, with the report describing daytime generation as surplus. The committee wanted a larger portion of agricultural pumping moved into this window.

The scale of groundwater irrigation makes that scheduling significant. Around 28 lakh agricultural borewells operate across Telangana, while the average depth to groundwater was projected to worsen from 9.46 metres below ground level in June to more than 11.01 metres by August, a fall of at least 1.55 metres in two months, amid extensive extraction.

The strain could grow if weak rainfall drives greater dependence on groundwater. The committee assessed Vanakalam cultivation at 107.08 lakh acres this year, and its contingency strategy seeks to bring another 32.20 lakh acres under alternative crops. Even as the crop mix changes, irrigation demand from borewell-dependent areas remains a factor for the grid.

There is another large claimant on Telangana’s electricity supply. Major lift irrigation schemes, including Palamuru-Rangareddy and Sitarama, require substantial uninterrupted power to pump water. The energy department said these loads have to be balanced against agricultural and household demand.

The committee has consequently proposed two changes to the farm-power system: moving agricultural feeder schedules from pre-dawn to daytime, and accelerating solarisation of dedicated rural agricultural feeders under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM).

An expert submission also recommended using separate farm feeders to limit electricity supply according to the water requirement of lower-water crops, linking power supply itself to groundwater conservation and crop choice.