Power

Power Generation in India
  • Installed Capacity – 120000 MW Peak Shortage – 12.6%, Energy Shortage – 7.5%
  • Sources of Power Generation – Steam – 57%; Hydro – 26%; Nuclear – 2.4%; Wind – 1.7%; Gas – 10%; Diesel – 1.0%

Generation Related Issues

  • Plant Load Factor Improvement
  • Low Quality, high ash content coal as primary source of fuel
  • Alarmingly low participation of private sector in capacity augmentation
  • Alternates to Thermal in Hydro and Nuclear have not picked up as per expectation
  • Peak and Energy Shortages still remain; hence no possibility of spinning reserves
  • Environmental pollution
Power Transmission
  • Transmission System comprises 400kV network for Main & Bulk transmission. Total Transmission network is about 22000 km
  • Power Grid Corporation is responsible for transmitting electricity at 400 kV and 220 kV

Transmission Related Issues

  • Grid Discipline, with over drawls resulting in grid collapse
  • Enforcement of Availability Based Tariff (ABT)
  • Weak Reactive Power Management resulting into poor voltage regulation
  • High Switching Transients
  • Interconnection of regional grids for transfer of bulk power from one part of the country to another
Power Distribution
  • Power is distributed at 0.4 kV level after being stepped down from 11 kV
  • Total Distribution capacity is about 250000 MVA; total number of consumers is over 130 million
  • Distribution sector is managed by state owned distribution companies / boards / corporation or private companies
  • APDRP and subsequently Indian Electricity Act 2003 have made distribution companies more accountable and opened up privatization
  • Average annual compound growth rate of electricity consumption since 1950 has been 8.9 %
  • Electricity consumption in different sectors:
    Agriculture- 24.9%
    Industries – 33.9%
    Domestic & Commercial – 32%
    Others – 9.2%

Distribution Related Issues

  • Inefficient / poorly designed and managed network/equipment
  • Metering – Not 100%
  • High Aggregate Technical and Commercial Loss- 30% to 50%
  • Distribution companies are financially stressed
  • Tariff structure based on subsidizing agricultural sector at the expense of Commercial and Industrial sector; resulting into theft and /or shifting of Commercial and Industrial sector to own captive generation
  • Weak Revenue Management and Energy Accounting
  • Lack of Load Forecasting – Long Term and Short Term
Users of Power

Agricultural Sector

  • Highly subsidized or free power to agriculture sector; with flat rate tariff in many states
  • Main use of electricity is for pumping ground water for irrigation; total number of electricity driven pumps is about 141 lakh with compounded annual growth rate of 13.3 %
  • Share in overall electricity consumption is about 30%
  • Agriculture supply is at predominantly high loss due to longer HT/LT line and misuse of single phasing period \
  • xtensive scheduled and unscheduled load shedding
  • HVDS is being implemented in many states

Domestic Sector

  • Compounded annual growth rate reduced from 13% in 1984-85 to 5.0% in 2002-03 due to shortage of power availability
  • Energy charges may be partially subsidized for this category in some states
  • Non-technical losses including theft, tampering of meters, billing and collection errors are common
  • Variance between Sanctioned load vs. Connected load is high; with middle class consumption patterns changing rapidly, especially in Metros and Class A cities

Commercial Sector

  • Compounded annual growth rate reduced from 9% in 1984-85 to 5.4% in 2002-03 due to shortage of power availability
  • Quality and Reliability of supply is of major concern to this sector
  • Most commercial buildings opt for own in-house generation for continuous supply relying on expensive diesel
  • Energy charges to this sector are comparably high because of cross-subsidy resulting in theft

Industrial Sector

  • On the receiving end of the cross-subsidy policy, this sector has the highest tariff among all users with unit charges as high as Rs 5/- per unit
  • 8.6% compound growth rate per annum
  • Lack of reliable and good quality power supply to this sector has led to own captive generation by many industries, hence reducing revenue share of utilities
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