Punjab: Power consumption in the state remained above 16,000 MW for the fourth consecutive day. At 16,534 MW, power demand remained higher than Thursday, when it had touched 16,300 MW. The demand rose to 16,711 MW on June 11, while it dropped to 16,192 MW on June 10. Experts said the power demand would surpass the 17,000 MW capacity of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) due to the scorching heat and paddy sowing. However, PSPCL CMD Ajay Sinha claimed that PSPCL had made arrangements in advance to meet the surge in demand. He said even after power demand crosses 17,000 MW, consumers will continue to get uninterrupted power supply without any power cuts. He said given the growing urbanisation and continued growth in industrial units, power demand is estimated to grow by 7 to 10 per cent annually. The state’s record-breaking energy demand came just a day after the final phase of advance sowing of paddy began on June 9.
Punjab has paddy cultivation on about 32 lakh hectares, of which 73% area is irrigated by tubewells. PSPCL records show that the state has 13.94 lakh tubewell connections. In the public sector, Ropar Thermal Power Plant generated 680 MW, Lehra Mohabbat 830 MW and Goindwal 505 MW. Private sector plants also operated at high output, with Rajpura generating 1,325 MW and Talwandi Sabo 1,860 MW. To deal with the rapidly increasing power demand in future, a new 206 MW hydropower project is being set up at Shahpur Kandi, which is expected to start power generation by December 2025, Sinha said. Power consumption in the state remained above 16,000 MW for the fourth consecutive day. At 16,534 MW, the power demand remained high since Thursday, when its consumption had touched 16,300 MW. The demand rose to 16,711 MW on June 11, while it dropped to 16,192 MW on June 10. Experts said the power demand would surpass the 17,000 MW capacity of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) due to the scorching heat and paddy sowing.
However, PSPCL CMD Ajay Sinha claimed that the PSPCL had made arrangements in advance to meet the surge in demand. He said even after the power demand crosses 17,000 MW, consumers will continue to get uninterrupted power supply without any power cuts. He said given the growing urbanisation and continued growth in industrial units, the power demand is estimated to grow by 7 to 10 per cent annually. The state’s record-breaking energy demand came just a day after the final phase of advance paddy sowing began on June 9. Punjab has paddy cultivation on about 32 lakh hectares, of which 73% area is irrigated by tubewells. PSPCL records show that the state has 13.94 lakh tubewell connections. In the public sector, Ropar Thermal Power Plant generated 680 MW, Lehra Mohabbat 830 MW and Goindwal 505 MW. Private sector plants also operated at high output, with Rajpura generating 1,325 MW and Talwandi Sabo 1,860 MW. To meet the rapidly increasing power demand in future, a new 206 MW hydropower project is being set up at Shahpur Kandi, which is expected to start power generation by December 2025, Sinha said.
