Bangalore: The commissioning of a new 400 kV transmission line from Udupi to Bangalore will ease the power shortage in the state by the month-end. But the monsoon could play spoiler. The coal-fired Udupi Power Corporation plant is all set to transmit an additional 500 MW of power through the new line, Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje told reporters here on Tuesday.
The first unit of the UPCL’s 600x2 power plant, commissioned in November 2010, is supplying over 540 MW of power daily to the state grid. The state will also get 500 MW power from the Bellary Thermal power station’s second unit, which is still running tests, by the month-end.
“The power situation may worsen if rains continue to play truant,” said Karandlaje and added that rainfall deficit has resulted in low storage in major hydel reservoirs. “In Linganamakki, the water is about 30 tmc ft as against 80 tmc ft the previous year,” she said.
The state gets about 1,250 MW of power from windmills, which accounts for about 10 to 15 million units a day. Authorities have planned to purchase an additional 750 MW of power this year, the minister said. She said the demand for power in the state is increasing every year. “We have witnessed a growth of over 24 per cent last year and poor rains will also result in the increase in the number of illegal irrigation power sets from the present two lakh to three lakh,” Karandlaje said.
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