Improvement in peak power shortage in Feb: CEA

NEW DELHI: Peak power shortage in the country came down to 7.9 per cent in February, mainly due to improvement in the states, including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, according to a latest CEA report.


India recorded a peak power deficit -- shortage in electricity supply when the demand is at its highest -- of 7.9 per cent in February as against 11.4 per cent in January, according to the latest data by Central Electricity Autority (CEA).

Out of the country's peak power demand estimated at 1,26,439 MW during February, as much as 1,16,495 MW was met. Demand in January was 1,32,948 MW, of which 1,17,790 MW was met, according to the data.

This correction mainly happened as electricity supply situation in the power-starved southern region upgraded.

Southern region, which includes states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, registered a peak power deficit of 20.4 per cent (7,620 MW) in January and 13.1 per cent (4,712 MW) in February this year, the CEA data showed.

Western region, comprising Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Daman & Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Goa, also recovered from a deficit of 5.8 per cent (2,313 MW) in January to 2.6 per cent (961 MW) in February.

However, no concrete reasons could be established for this improvement.

North-eastern region -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura -- also recorded lesser peak power deficit (4.6 per cent) in February than (6.6 per cent) in January, according to the data.

The total demand of the region during February stood at 1,934 MW of which 1,845 MW was met.

There was slight improvement in the Northern region as the peak power deficit in the states, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh was 9.3 per cent (3,429 MW) in February as against 10.9 per cent (4,344 MW) in January, it noted.

However, the peak power deficit in the eastern region comprising Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar Islands remained the same at 5.3 per cent in both the months. The region witnessed a shortage of 753 MW in January as well as February.