The Hindu Business Line : TNEB sells surplus power to PTC, Adani — Average selling price is put around Rs 2.80 a unit

The electricity board sells 5-6 million units (MU) a day to PTC India Ltd (formerly Power Trading Corporation of India Ltd) and Adani Exports Ltd, both of whom have been licensed as power traders.

According to reliable sources, the average selling price is about Rs 2.80 a unit, with different prices being charged for power available in different time slots.

The sources said that the electricity board started selling power from early November, shortly after the northeast monsoon set in over the State. TNEB expects to sell surplus power till the end of December or, at best, till mid-January 2006, after which demand would pick up in the State.

When contacted, Mr R.K. Madan, President, Adani Exports Ltd - Power Trading Division, said that the company had been buying power from TNEB and selling it to buyers in different States. Adani Exports alone traded about 12 MU of power daily nationally, he said.

According to the sources, all the reservoirs in Tamil Nadu - those used for irrigation purposes and the non-irrigation ones - were full and in some, the water was being let out. The TNEB normally used hydel power only to meet peak demand, but was generating power for longer periods now because water was being let out of the dams. The storage in the reservoirs is equivalent to 2,200 MU of electricity, which the board hopes to use till June, when the southwest monsoon sets in.

The TNEB is meeting a daily average demand of 6,800 MW and met a peak demand of 7,775 MW in August. The total installed capacity in the State is about 9,500 MW, including Tamil Nadu's share of Central generating stations.

With a fall in demand for electricity, TNEB has backed down some of its generating stations as also the costlier private power producers, say the sources.

Information available on Central Electricity Authority's web site shows that against a programmed generation of 72.11 MU by the TNEB on December 14 the actual generation was marginally lower at 70.86 MU. However, in the case of the independent power producers (IPPs), the actual generation at 11.26 MU was 35 per cent lower than the programmed generation of 17.27 MU.According to the sources, TNEB has asked the costlier private power producers, especially those running on naphtha and other liquid fuels like LSHS to shut down due to the high cost of power.