Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) has shut six of its eight power generation stations for the last 20 days at Shaktinagar in Raichur district because of the dip in demand for power in the State.
RTPS has eight units, with a total capacity of 1,720 MW. Units 1 to 7 generate a total of 1,470 MW (210x7) of power, while unit 8 generates 250 MW of power.
Units 3 and 6, which are presently being operated, generated 302 MW of power on Sunday. Wind and solar power production has caused low demand at RTPS. On Saturday, there was a demand for around 187 million units from all forms of power generation units; of this, RTPS generated eight million units from its share and supplied it.
An engineer of the electrical division of RTPS told The Hindu that the shutdown of various units was due to the reduction in demand for power, mainly on account of the onset of monsoon as well as the COVID-19 situation, which has resulted in the closure of several commercial and industrial units.
Also, this is the season when wind power reaches its peak in terms of generation, and hence the base load of thermal generation is reduced, he said.
Normally, thermal units are shut and annual maintenance taken up during this season as the pressure on them for power generation is very low. However, this time COVID-19 has further reduced the pressure on them. Various thermal units across the country too have reduced power generation.
