Power demand to see huge increase by May 2017 in Hyderabad
Officials said the peak power demand of about 1,800 MW in the city before June 2014 has crossed 2,400 MW.
Hyderabad: The peak power supply demand in the city is expected to shoot up to 55 million units per day by May 2017. It was 33 MU in May 2014 before formation of Telangana state.
Over 4 lakh new connections have been released in the city since the formation of Telangana state, a majority of them in urban areas of Ranga Reddy district in the GHMC limits.
If the load increased by 8 per cent in the core city, it went up by 18 per cent in urban areas of RR district covering most parts of IT corridor and the industrial clusters of Jeediemtla, Balanagar, Nacharam. This compares against the average 10-12 per cent growth in the city in the last few years.
Officials said the peak power demand of about 1,800 MW in the city before June 2014 has crossed 2,400 MW. It is expected to touch 2800 MW in the summer of 2017.
The higher power demand is because of revival of sick industries, said Mr G. Raghuma Reddy, chairman and managing director, Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Limited.
“ A large number of apartment complexes and commercial showrooms and malls have come up in urban areas of Ranga Reddy district. All these in addition to increasing usage of electrical appliances,” he said.
“Though we had purchased excess power to meet the demand in the city in 2014-15, we could not supply due to insufficient distribution infrastructure. Subsequently, we installed Rs 240-crore worth infrastructure to improve the supply and distribution network mainly in RR district urban areas in GHMC limits,” he said.
The discom is prepared to meet the demand even if it rises to 60 MU per day. “The recent heavy rains marooned many parts of Hyderabad. Except for short-term interruptions, there was no major problem in power supply. We are trying to build on from here to continue 24x7 power supply for the capital city and the state in 2017 too,” he said.