Chennai, Oct 14 Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister R Nirmal Kumar on Wednesday said while states like Maharashtra and Karnataka have resorted to load shedding, Tamil Nadu is paying a premium to avoid severe disruptions to the industrial and MSME sectors.
He said the government will absorb an additional daily expenditure of up to Rs 7 crore to meet a 10-year high in national electricity demand, while simultaneously announcing that a new comprehensive solar and battery storage policy will be rolled out within a week.
Speaking to the media here, the Minister said, “We have said we will not implement power cuts as it would affect the public.”
On the national shortage, he said, “This will result in an additional expenditure of Rs 5 to 7 crore per day compared to normal purchases.”
Addressing criticisms of buying at a higher price, the minister pointed out that the baseline production cost for gas power is already over Rs 30 per unit.
He said the government is forced to buy more expensive gas power as thermal power is no longer available in the market.
“If it is thermal power, it is only Rs 17 to Rs 18. Just two weeks ago, we ourselves have procured it from the Assam government at Rs 17 to Rs 18. So, only gas power is available now,” Nirmal Kumar said.
According to him, to meet evening peak hour requirements (6 pm to 12 am) between October 15 and 31, the state is purchasing 1,000 MW of gas power. Sourced primarily through the central government entity NVVN, the power is being procured at Rs 33 to Rs 35 per unit, he added.
Tamil Nadu’s power requirement has currently reached 21,000 MW, an increase of 5,000 MW compared to the previous year.
While the state’s internal generation capacity stands at 5,300 MW, the efficiency of existing thermal power plants has been improved from 50 per cent last year to over 73 per cent, he added.
Elaborating on the upcoming renewable energy framework, Kumar explained that approvals for new solar applications were temporarily held back over the last four months. “We are going to mandate a battery storage policy. Once approval is received, the solar and battery storage policy will be announced together,” he said, confirming the rollout is expected in a week.
To address long-term stability, short-term procurement arrangements will soon be replaced by long-term power purchase tenders by the end of the month, pending approval from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC).
The minister noted that no long-term contracts had been initiated by the state since 2013.
Outlining infrastructure upgrades, Kumar announced that 6,000 transformers aged over 25 years will be replaced this year, including 1,000 units in the city.
He also criticised the previous AIADMK administration for stalling the Uppur power plant despite a Rs 6,000 crore investment.
“What you’d call a huge criminal waste done by the previous corrupt AIADMK government. Leaving this Uppur power plant as it is was a big criminal waste. About Rs 6,000 crore was invested in it and due to their personal reasons they just left it as it is,” he said.
The Uppur Thermal Power Project is a stalled supercritical coal-fired power plant located in the Ramanathapuram district. The project has faced several significant hurdles over the years. These included legal challenges regarding land acquisition, opposition from local farming and fishing communities over environmental degradation, and concerns about the potential impact on local marine life.
The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) kept the project’s environmental clearance in abeyance on March 18, 2021, and directed the project proponent to suspend all work.
“A project report is currently being prepared to revive the facility, which includes evaluating logistics for coal transport. Furthermore, approvals have been granted to increase the capacity of Udangudi Stage 2 and Stage 3 projects from 600 MW to 800 MW, with work also underway to complete North Chennai Stage 3,” the power minister added.
(PTI News)
