24/7 power supply to costs Transco dearly

​Hyderabad: The sudden surge in the demand for power, due to round the clock supply to agricultural sector in three districts, has increased the burden of Telangana Transmission Corporation (TS Transco).

Following the sudden jump in demand, the Transco had to opt for heavy purchases from power exchange. According to senior officials of Transco, on July 26 they had to purchase 2,695 MW of power to meet a peak demand of 9043 MW. During peak summer this year, the purchases did not cross 500 MW per day.

The Transco started round the clock supply for the agriculture sector a week ago in three districts of the State. The scheme had been introduced in Medak, Nalgonda and Karimnagar districts and about 9.85 lakh pump sets have been utilising the facility. The power consumption, prior to introduction of the scheme to agriculture sector was 139 MUs.

But since the scheme became operational there has been sudden increase of 46 MUs.The sudden increase had resulted in additional expenditure of about Rs 12 crore per day towards power purchase. Sources said due to the sudden increase in demand, the Transco is now forced to purchase power at Rs 3.50 per unit. There were purchasing power for Rs 2.50 for the first week of this month.