Arunachal Pradesh suffers from power crisis

Itanagar, 01 April 2013 [PTI] --- Arunachal Pradesh, with an estimated 58,000 megawatts hydro power generation potential, has been facing an acute power crisis for the past two and a half months.  With the sources of rivers rapidly drying up directly impacting generation in the entire Northeast, Arunachal Pradesh is also affected due to supply shortfall.  The situation has been compounded by a large number of fires being reported in the state this year, forcing consumers, particularly students, to reach for conventional energy sources like kerosene and candles.  The hilly state receives between 84 MW to 34 MW during peak and non-peak hours, respectively, against a peak hour demand of 130 MW. The supply schedule goes haywire with a fluctuating supply from the NE Grid. It varies from 44 MW to 84 MW during peak hours and between 34 and 44 MW during non-peak hours, that too including the state's share of 22 to 24 MW, according to State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) Executive Engineer T Mize.  Though a few mini and micro hydro power projects are generating power to meet the local needs, statistics are not available to SLDC contrary to the grid distribution mandate, Mize said.  The demand for power has been on an upswing with a number of massive development projects being executed in the state.  Small and medium industries are also being set up in large numbers. Criss-crossed by numerous perennial rivers, the state houses the largest hydro project in the Northeast – 405 mw Ranganadi Hydro electric project (105 mw x 3 units) of the North East Electrical Power Corporation at Papum Pare district.