Telangana’s Share In Total Power Falls From 54% To 46%

The Telangana Electricity Employees’ Joint Action Committee (TEEJAC) has decried the shifting of solar power generation proposed in Telangana by the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC), to Andhra Pradesh post bifurcation.

The NHPC had proposed to set up solar projects of 400-MW capacity in the united AP, of which about 250 MW worth projects were for Telangana region. Post bifurcation, the NHPC has changed its mind and decided to transfer entire capacity to AP, which would result in 250 MW loss of solar power for Telangana, the JAC alleged.

This will be one among the many points TEEJAC will raise in its representation to the Chief Secretary, Telangana State, alleging illegal diversion of power by AP government, K. Raghu, the coordinator, TEEJAC, said.

He claims that Telangana’s share of total power has come down from 54 percent on June 1, to 46 per cent now, resulting in loss of 955 MW.

One more issue raised by the TEEJAC pertains to the non-scheduling of hydro power by the AP Genco, following its announcement of withdrawal from the Power Purchase Agreements with discoms. The present generation of 400 MW from Upper Sileru, Lower Sileru and Donkarayi hydro power projects is being entirely used by AP, depriving Telangana its rightful share.

Further, it alleged that the power consumption of Anantapur and Kurnool districts– recently shifted to APSPDCL from APCPDCL (now TSSPDCL) — was overestimated while calculating the shares. The districts’ share was based on previous five years’ consumption, while the actual allocations among discoms were made in 2008.

A mention was also made to the Non-Conventional Energy (NCE) projects in Anantapur and Kurnool districts which have PPAs with TSSPDCL, but the power of 600 MW is being used by AP. Further, infirm power to the tune of 200 MW from the Krishna Patnam project in Nellore operated by the APPDCL, is being used up by AP, Mr.Raghu said.

The Telangana State Transco CMD Suresh Chanda, however, contended that infirm power — electricity generated prior to commercial operation of a generating unit– cannot be allocated as it is unreliable. The power from NCE sources was allotted based on geographical location of the projects, and hence the same from Anantapur and Kurnool would belong to APSPDCL now, he asserted.

Source: The Hindu