Thaindian News

Chennai, Feb 25 (IANS) Faced with acute power shortage of around 4,000 MW and the wrath of public for long power cuts, the Tamil Nadu power utility Saturday announced 40 percent power cut for all industrial and commercial users, two-hour cuts in Chennai city and suburbs and four hours for other rural and urban areas from Monday onwards.

In a statement issued here, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Ltd (Tangedco) announced restriction for power usage for commercial consumers between 6-10 p.m. All industries will be subjected to one day power holiday in a week from March 1 onwards.

According to Tangedco, the restrictions and controls will be implemented according to the local needs and will be suitably altered whenever required.

“Load shedding measures will be revised, depending upon the demand and supply gap,” the statement said.

According to Tangedco, the demand for power in Tamil Nadu is ranging from 11,500-12,500 MW, but the total availability from internal generation, share from central generating station and other sources is only 8,500 MW, leaving a gap of 3,000 - 4,000 MW.

While the power demand is increasing by 10 percent in the state, there has been no major capacity additions over the last several years, Tangedco said.

The various power projects, including the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project expected to be commissioned this year, are getting delayed for various reasons, the power company said.

The power deficit situation is likely to last for a few months and from June onwards with wind power generation picking up and power projects becoming functional one after the other, it will be possible to relax some of the restrictions, Tangedco said.