One unit of Adani power plant shut down, load shedding may increase

Power Development Board (PDB) and Power Grid Company sources said that due to coal supply being disrupted by a storm, the plant's generation had been low since August 7. Toward the end of last month, generation was increased and about 900 MW was being supplied during the day, and up to 1,200 MW from evening until 12 midnight. Although generation exceeded 1,400 MW on Wednesday night, after the unit shut down it fell to less than half.

This 1,600 MW capacity power plant built in Jharkhand, India, has two units of 800 MW each. In 2017, PDB signed a contract to buy electricity from the plant. There are also records of supplying more than 1,500 MW from it as per demand.

Officials associated with the plant said a unit was shut down after a fault was detected in the boiler. It may take about 48 hours for the boiler to cool down. After that, repair work will start. As a result, it may take several more days for generation to become normal.

PDB sources said that due to the gas crisis for more than two months, gas-based power generation has decreased by up to about 1,500 MW. At the same time, coal-based plants are not generating at full capacity due to coal shortage and technical faults. One unit of the Payra power plant is shut down, and several other plants, including Rampal, have reduced generation due to a coal crisis.

Those concerned said that even by starting extra fuel oil-based plants, the situation cannot be managed. As the heat increases and electricity demand rises, load shedding is also increasing. On Wednesday, the maximum load shedding was 3,557 MW. On Friday, a holiday, even in the morning, there was more than 2,500 MW of load shedding across the country.