Bhopal: After a long gap, the state maybe again staring at a power crunch. Due to a savage drop in supply of coal, the thermal power plants are not working to full capacity. Ditto with the hydel power plants hit by deficient rains. Diwali is round the corner and it is the period when the demand for electricity spikes. And this may translate into large parts of the state having to do with erratic power supply in the days and weeks to come.
The chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has written to the Union minister for coal Piyush Goyal asking him to ensure adequate supply of coal to the state. Sources said that coal stocks in most of the thermal power plants are enough to last only a day or two; whereas standard operating
procedures entail that the plants should have coal stocks for at least a week. The supply of coal is just 40 per cent of the demand. Most of the thermal power plants are being run on less than 50 per cent capacity.
The peak demand for power in the state at present is around 8,500 MW which is expected to grow to around 10,000 MWs around Diwali. In December, the farm sector will need more power for irrigating Rabi crops.
Sources said that besides MP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are also facing the same situation. According to R K Pandey, chief engineer of the MP
Power Generating Company, the hydel power plants are running only till the water resources department supplies water for the purpose. He said that at present, the situation is manageable but in the coming times, as the water level in the dam reservoirs drops, the water resources department may not permit use of water for producing power.
