AC assents to purchase of additional 500 MW of power to meet winter demand

Jammu, Nov 26: The Administrative Council (AC), which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha gave its approval for the purchase of an additional energy of 500 MW of firm power from the Ministry of Power (MOP) to meet base load power requirement of J&K.

An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that the AC assents to the allocation of an additional 500 MW of firm power from MOP in B(v) mode (procurement being done by PFC) to meet the base load power requirement essentially required to meet the winter demand.

The availability in winter is reduced due to the high proportion of hydropower in J&K.
To bridge this gap between demand and availability of power during winter months, the AC approved the signing of a fresh Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) by J&K Power Corporation Limited (JKPCL) with NTPC regarding Singrauli-III run by NTPC.

This would subside the energy demand in J&K which is increasing at a CAGR of 10 percent.

Singrauli-II being a thermal power station is a must-run station, due to which its power supports J&K’s power requirement during winter when the generation from hydro generators of ISGS reduces to 150-300 MW, a reduction of 70 to 90 percent of summer generation.

As such, it would increase its availability by signing a new power purchase agreement of JKPCL with NTPC regarding Singrauli-III which would help J&K in tiding over the power shortage faced by it during the lean winter season.

Advisor to LG, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar; Chief Secretary, Arun Kumar Mehta; and Principal Secretary to LG Mandeep Kumar Bhandari attended the meeting.