Chandigarh: Despite lower demand during winters, power consumers in Punjab are facing load-shedding by state-owned utility due to supply shortage.
Although officials claimed that efforts were being made to restore the uninterrupted power supply, 4-6 hours load- shedding has disrupted the normal life in the state.
They attributed frequent technical snags in state-owned plants and not receiving power from Mundra power project to the current crisis.
Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) has resorted to buying power from other sources for the first time in this winter season to bridge the gap between demand and supply.
PSPCL is facing a gap of 20-25 lakh units against the supply of 900 lakh units per day, official sources said.
"We have been observing frequent technical snag faced by our power plants in past several days which led to less generation of power supply in the state," a senior PSPCL official told a news agency today.
Currently, one unit with capacity of 210 MW of Ropar thermal power plant was not generating power because of technical snag, he added.
Power crisis in the state also worsened because of power utility not being able to get power supply from thermal power project located in Gujarat.
"We were supposed to receive 190X2 MW of power supply from Mundra power project in Gujarat but we are unable to get the same. It also compunded our problems," he said.
Power officials informed that they were sourcing power from other sources in order to meet the power demand in the state. "We are purchasing power at Rs 5.50 per unit from outside so as to match demand and supply," he added.
Officials also pointed out that increase in demand for power supply from industry and farm sectors also put strain on the availability of power, forcing the power utility to impose power cuts.
PTI
