HYDERABAD: Chances of the State getting any more additional power from the Central generation stations and private sellers have become dim following the onset of summer.

Faced with their own shortages, almost all the southern States are scrambling to purchase power from wherever available while, at the same time, resorting to overdrawal from the Central stations. However, any more overdrawal has been ruled out, as the Central stations have been stretched to the maximum.

Any further strain on these stations may lead to a drastic fall in the line frequency of the southern grid, resulting in tripping of stations all over the south.

Rabi at its peak

With the rabi season reaching its peak, the APTransco has been forced to turn to even small-time captive generation unit like Jindal Steels in Karnataka (50 MW), Adani Exports, Delhi (40 MW), Tatas (50 MW) Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (15 MW), Heavy Water Plant at Manuguru (12 MW) and Kesoram Cements (2 MW). The average price for these purchases worked out to Rs. 5.46 a unit in December, Rs. 6 in January before falling to Rs. 5.46 in February.

The utility is already purchasing 350 MW from the Power Trading Corporation and 25 MW from the NTPC's NVVL. Generation from Lanco, GVK, Spectrum and Reliance has gone up a little following increased gas supply from Ravva Fields. These purchases, however, have not fully wiped out the shortage and four-hour power cut is still being enforced in villages and towns.

Hydel generation

APTransco now wants to enhance hydel generation as and when required during summer as sufficient water is available in Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar. The demand, after the cuts, is presently hovering around 175 million units a day.

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