Goods suspension by Railways in Punjab causes power cuts as coal stocks dry up

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], November 3 : Punjab residents braced for massive power cuts on Tuesday after coal stocks in the state completely dried up as a result of the prolonged suspension of goods supply trains by the Indian Railways.
As per a statement, power cuts will be imposed on all residential, commercial and agricultural consumers from Tuesday evening by the Power Department. The day-time power shortage rose to 1000 to 1500 megawatts and the state's last power plant, GVK Thermal, has also run out.
The statement also quotes a government spokesperson saying that the supply of power was inadequate for the demand during the day, which stands at about 5,100 to 5,200 MW, and 3,400 MW at night. Only agricultural power (AP) load of vegetable feeders are being given power supply of 800 MW for four to five hours a day.
"The situation is grim as the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is left with no generation control and market rates of power continue to be highly volatile. They could further spike any time, resulting in the increase in the cost of power purchase, on which the state is now completely dependent to feed its cables," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson further said that one unit of the GVK plant that was operational at around 12 noon headed for a shut-down by 5 pm when the coal stock was slated to completely run out. Other Private Thermal Power plants have already exhausted their coal supplies and are out of operation.
The state's own thermal power stations of Ropar and Lehra Mohabbat were also boxed up. However, one unit at each of these plants was being synchronized to make up for GVK generation loss and to provide stability to the system.