Tamil Nadu will spend up to Rs 7 crore more each day to avoid power cuts as the state’s electricity requirement reaches 21,000 MW, Electricity Minister R Nirmal Kumar said on Wednesday. The additional procurement is intended to protect households, industries and micro, small and medium enterprises from supply disruptions during a period of elevated national demand.
The minister said Tamil Nadu was purchasing costlier power instead of resorting to load shedding, unlike Maharashtra and Karnataka. “We have said we will not implement power cuts as it would affect the public,” he said while addressing the media in Chennai.
Tamil Nadu is buying 1,000 MW of gas-based power to meet evening peak demand between 6 pm and midnight from October 15 to 31. The power is being sourced primarily through the central government entity NVVN at Rs 33 to Rs 35 per unit, considerably higher than the Rs 17 to Rs 18 per unit the state recently paid for thermal power procured from Assam.
Kumar said thermal power was currently unavailable in the market and that the baseline production cost for gas-based generation was already above Rs 30 per unit. “This will result in an additional expenditure of Rs 5 to 7 crore per day compared to normal purchases,” he said.
The state’s current requirement is 5,000 MW higher than the previous year. Tamil Nadu’s internal generation capacity stands at 5,300 MW, while the efficiency of its existing thermal power plants has increased from 50 per cent last year to more than 73 per cent, according to the minister.
The immediate procurement plan is being paired with measures aimed at improving longer-term supply stability. The government will roll out a comprehensive solar and battery storage policy within a week, after temporarily holding back approvals for new solar applications over the past four months. Kumar said new solar approvals would be linked with the battery storage mandate.
Short-term power purchases are also expected to be replaced by long-term power purchase tenders by the end of October, subject to approval from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission. The minister said Tamil Nadu had not initiated long-term contracts since 2013.
The state is also planning to replace 6,000 transformers that are more than 25 years old this year, including 1,000 units in Chennai. The replacement programme is intended to address ageing distribution infrastructure alongside the state’s efforts to secure additional generation during peak hours.
Kumar said a project report was being prepared to examine the revival of the stalled Uppur Thermal Power Project in Ramanathapuram district, including coal-transport logistics. The project, involving an investment of about Rs 6,000 crore, has faced land-acquisition disputes, opposition from farming and fishing communities, environmental concerns and legal challenges. The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal kept its environmental clearance in abeyance on March 18, 2021, and directed that work be suspended.
The minister also said approvals had been granted to raise the planned capacity of Udangudi Stage 2 and Stage 3 from 600 MW to 800 MW, while work was continuing on North Chennai Stage 3. The immediate focus, however, remains on procuring sufficient power for the evening peak and preventing supply interruptions through October 31.
