Punjab’s power crisis is showing signs of possible relief, with Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond saying that long-duration power cuts are expected to end from September 15, as the government has also stepped up efforts to restore generation from thermal power plants and has deployed around 200 government employees for the work.
However, the immediate situation remains under pressure. Electricity demand has stayed above 16,000 MW, while coal shortages and technical problems at some generating units have restricted the amount of power available within the state and the gap has forced Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to depend heavily on electricity from the central pool.
The crisis has already affected industries, farmers and domestic consumers, with prolonged and unscheduled cuts reported across Punjab. Industrial centres including Jalandhar and Ludhiana have been among the worst affected.
At the same time, the Punjab government has changed the administrative leadership of the Power Department, PSPCL and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL). The reshuffle comes as the government faces pressure to stabilise supply and prevent further disruption.
Punjab’s electricity demand has risen sharply in September and the state recorded peak demand of 16,619 MW on September 11, while demand has remained above the 16,000-MW mark for several days.
This is considerably higher than the normal demand level for the state.
The higher requirement has come at a time when Punjab’s own generation has been constrained by coal shortages and technical problems at some power plants.
Earlier in the crisis, power generation was reported at around 4,472 MW by 5 PM against demand of 16,619 MW. The resulting gap forced PSPCL to impose restrictions on industrial consumers and arrange additional electricity from outside the state.
The situation has been particularly difficult for industries operating during evening and night hours. Industrial feeders in several areas were subjected to long power cuts, while domestic consumers also reported unscheduled outages and the recent reports said Category 2 and 3 industrial units in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Mohali faced cuts extending up to 14 hours.
There are several factors behind the current shortage.
The first is unusually high electricity demand. Punjab’s demand has remained above 16,000 MW even in September, higher temperatures, humid weather and the ongoing paddy season have contributed to the increased requirement, particularly because agriculture depends heavily on electricity-powered tubewells.
The second major issue is coal availability.
Coal shortages have affected the ability of thermal power plants to operate at their full capacity, while the third factor is technical problems at generating units. Several thermal units have been unavailable at different points during the crisis, reducing the amount of electricity that Punjab can generate internally.
The combined effect is a situation where demand has remained high while available generation has not been sufficient to meet it.
Reports have also indicated that private thermal plants faced problems with coal stocks, while some units were taken offline because of technical faults and PSPCL subsequently issued notices to two private plants over coal-stock issues.
Punjab currently has three government thermal power plants with a total of 10 units.
At Ropar, four units have a combined capacity of 840 MW. Their current generation is around 487 MW, at Lehra Mohabbat, four units have a combined capacity of 920 MW, with generation of around 801 MW, while at Goindwal, two units have a combined capacity of 540 MW and are producing around 501 MW.
Together, the three government plants are generating approximately 1,786 MW.
Punjab also has two private thermal plants: The Talwandi Sabo plant has three units with a combined capacity of 1,980 MW and is generating around 1,701 MW and the Rajpura plant has two units with a combined capacity of 1,400 MW and is generating around 1,321 MW.
Together, the two private plants are producing approximately 3,022 MW.
With demand remaining substantially higher than available state generation, PSPCL has been purchasing electricity from the central pool and around 11,000 MW of electricity was being purchased from the central pool on Monday, showing how heavily Punjab is relying on electricity from outside its own generating stations to meet demand. The state government has also raised the issue of the supply it is receiving from the central pool. Sond has said Punjab was receiving 1,051 MW less than its entitled share, so this has become another part of the wider debate over the current crisis, with the Punjab government blaming the Centre for the shortfall while opposition parties have criticised the state government over its handling of the power situation.
The industrial sector has been among the biggest victims of the shortage.
In Ludhiana, more than 2,400 industrial units have been affected, according to reports, while around 400 units operating night shifts have also faced disruption. These units employ more than 1 lakh workers and industrial consumers have reported production losses because electricity cuts have forced factories to reduce working hours or shut operations.
Jalandhar has also seen major disruption. Around 3,000 factories in the city’s industrial sector have reportedly been affected by the restrictions, particularly units involved in tractor parts, machine parts, valves and pipe fittings.
Industrialists have said that prolonged cuts can affect production schedules and supply chains and the problem is not limited to the electricity-dependent production process.
Even when factories stop working, businesses continue to incur expenses such as wages and other operational costs.
The Punjab government says efforts are underway to increase generation and stabilise the supply situation and according to Sond, the government has worked to restore private thermal power plants and deployed around 200 government employees for the task.
The government is also operating available generation sources at high levels and purchasing electricity from the central pool to bridge the gap.
The immediate objective is to restore generation from units that are unavailable and ensure that the additional power being sourced from outside Punjab can cover the remaining requirement.
Sond has said that long-duration power cuts are expected to end from September 15.
The immediate test for the Punjab government is whether the promised improvement from September 15 actually translates into shorter or no long-duration cuts for consumers and for that to happen, several things will have to work together: thermal units need to remain operational, coal supplies need to improve, electricity from the central pool needs to remain available and demand needs to be managed.
The government has already increased reliance on outside power while working to restore generation from private and government plants.
But demand remains the biggest pressure point. Punjab has recently crossed the 16,000-MW mark repeatedly, including a peak of 16,619 MW and if demand remains at these levels while generation continues to be constrained, the gap can quickly return.
