State power utility Tangedco purchased 4,140.96 million units of electricity from April 2021 to January 2022, at an average cost of ₹5.51 per unit.
In a petition filed with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC), Tangedco noted that in order to meet the demand in case of a shortage of wind and solar power or outages at its own thermal plants, power purchases were made through exchanges.
As per the data shared by Tangedco, it procured 961.38 million units at ₹8.15 per unit in October 2021, when a country-wide coal shortage made the headlines. It also noted that due to coal-related issues like domestic supply constraints and higher price of imported coal, electricity prices at power exchanges were high and very volatile.
Tangedco meets the electricity demand through various sources such as its own generating stations and purchases from various central generating stations, independent power plants, captive power plants, wind generators, co-generation plants, bio-mass plants, merchant power plants and power exchanges. The utility also makes use of the installed capacity of conventional sources, accounting for 14,783 MW. This includes 4,320 MW from its own thermal stations, 516 MW from gas, 416 MW from independent power producers, 6,151 MW from central generating stations and 2,830 MW from long-term and 550 MW from medium-term open access agreements.
Tangedco said the net availability was 12,565 MW.
As per the latest Electric Power Survey, published by the Central Electricity Authority, Tamil Nadu’s estimated peak demand was 16,846 MW in 2021-22 and was expected to increase to 17,613 MW in 2022-23.
Tangedco shared the data on power purchases from exchanges while seeking approval from the State power regulator for floating a medium-term tender to procure 1,500 MW for a period of five years, appointing M/s. PTC as aggregator with a tariff of ₹4.04 per unit.
It also said the annual escalation was 5 to 6 paise per unit, which, at the end of the contract period, added with the transmission charges, losses would still be less than ₹5 per unit, when compared to the purchase price exceeding ₹5 per unit under a short-term agreement and in power exchange.
Recently, Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji said an all-time high peak demand of 17,196 MW was met this summer. He also told officials to ensure uninterrupted power supply.
With the electricity demand soaring, ensuring the availability of domestic coal continues to be a challenge. Recently, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission asked the power exchanges to cap prices at ₹12 per unit. Union Minister for Power R.K. Singh has urged the States to import coal for blending up to 10% to ensure adequate coal stocks for uninterrupted power supply.
