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Telangana is set to increase its power generation capacity from 14,200 MW to 15,000 MW by March 2018 and to about 17,000 MW by the year-end.
The capacity augmentation will come through the commissioning of 800 MW coal-fired thermal power plant at Kothagudam by March 2018, whose boiler light-up has been completed earlier this month and additional capacity coming up from 1080 MW Bhadradri power plant and other sources, including renewables.
Capacity addition
The State managed to add significant capacity over the last three-and-a-half years, up from 6,573 MW in June 2014, when the Telangana State was carved out, to about 14,972 MW following the light-up of the unit seven of Kothagudam thermal power station. Significantly, the unit would be completed in less than 39 months as against the stipulated time of 48 months as provided for by the Central Electricity Authority. This will also help the TS Genco to bring down the cost of loans during the construction phase.
D Prabhakar Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of TS Transco and TS Genco, said, “The State is on course to achieving a total capacity of 17,000 MW by December 2018 and the target is to increase this capacity to 28,000 MW over the next three to four years.”
Of the proposed upcoming capacity, about 4,000 MW is expected to come up at Yadadri power plant, where works are under way. Two units of Bhadradri project are likely to be commissioned by December 2018.
Solar power
The State now has an installed capacity of 3,200 MW, and if the plans go through, additional solar capacity is likely to be added by the year-end. The State plans to have 5,000 MW of solar capacity within a couple of years.
In achieving 3,200 MW, it has the highest capacity in a single State in the country, pipping Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh in the solar energy sector.
As on September 2017, the State was able to meet the demand for 197 million units. With the 24x7 free power supply to the agriculture sector getting under way from January 1, 2018, the Transco has made arrangements to meet the overall demand of 11,000 MW.
Apart from strengthening the transmission network, a number of demand side management initiatives have been taken up. The State's efforts to bring down distribution losses too has played a big role. It has been brought down to 3.37 per cent.
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