Mangaluru: Power outages in DK improve significantly

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Sep 14, 2015:  Now that both units of the 1200 MW coal-based Udupi Power Corporation function to its full capacity since Sept 10 night, outages in the city have reduced.

From over four- and six-hour unscheduled power cuts in urban and rural areas, power disruptions have reduced to just an hour in urban areas and 90 minutes to two hours in rural areas. The district gets close to 8% of the total installed capacity from UPCL. But Monday may present a different situation with all consumers - both LT and HT - using power to maximum, there may be unscheduled power cuts lasting up to an hour or two.

On Sept 12, one of the 600 MW units was shut down due to a glitch in one of the turbines. Though it was minor snag, the unit had to be shut down for inspection.  Restarting process takes 12 to 24 hours,  a UPCL official said. But the glitch was rectified and plant started its operations at 2pm.

In Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, power cuts lasted for a minimum of four hours when UPCL’s one unit was shut down. But after the unit started functioning, no power cuts.

 Mescom needs 700 to 800 MW per day average and currently it is getting 505 MW, load on Sept 13, was just 445MW.  Today Sept 14,  there may be an hour of power cut in case there is increased load, said a Mescom official. As of today, UPCL is generating 982MW. Last week, the availability had gone down to 465 MW, half of what was required, hence the unscheduled power cuts.

Mescom head quartered in Mangalore is vested with the responsibility of distribution of power to the districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru. Bescom is the largest beneficiary of power generated from UPCL at 49.62%, Hescom is next at 18.18%, Gescom (13.26), Cesc (10.61) and Mescom gets 8.33% of the power generated from UPCL. UPCL is critical to state’s power needs as it meets 22%-25% of the state’s energy needs. Bengaluru is experiencing up to six hours of power cuts every day, and rest of Karnataka nearly 10 hours.