Staff Reporter
Guwahati: During a recent meeting of the state advisory committee (SAC) of the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC), the power scenario in the state was up for discussion. In the meeting, it was submitted by Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd. (APDCL) that the demand for electricity in FY 2025-26 is expected to be around 2950 MW.
It was also established in the SAC meeting that the electricity sector in Assam is undergoing several changes—power demand has been growing, the share of renewable energy in the power source mix has been increasing, and the average cost of supply of electricity has also been rising.
The maximum demand met in FY 2024-25 has reached 2684 MW (till September 2024) from 1956 MW in 2019-20—an increase of 728 MW in 6 years and 11.23% from the past year of 2023-24.
APDCL also informed in the meeting that the state power companies have been trying to augment their transmission and distribution capacities, and the discom has entered into a number of long- and short-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to meet the increasing demand.
Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd. (APGCL) focused on the current energy portfolio of the company, the ongoing and upcoming renewable energy projects, and the way forward for capacity addition to the energy generation of the state up to 2030. APGCL mentioned that at present the total installed effective capacity is 404.86 MW, whereas the average generation is 354.4 MW. The SAC members enquired as to why the actual generation is much less than that of the installed capacity and the high consumption of auxiliary power.
APGCL explained that the scheduling is lower due to the higher cost of power from such units. He further added that the gas pressure is being maintained at some of the plants through booster units, which increase the auxiliary consumption. This is due to the old pipelines through which the gas is supplied by AGCL, which do not deliver gas at the desired pressure. Further, the units are also not always getting the full quantum of subsidized gas.
APGCL also added that the Gas Sales Agreements (GSAs) with GAIL, OIL, and AGCL are quite old, which do not have any penalty/compensation clause, and any modification would require the government’s approval.
The SAC recommended that APGCL should take the initiative at the earliest for revision of GSAs to the latest standard agreements, and the formats used by oil companies such as NRL may be referred to for the purpose. APGCL was also encouraged to take up the matter with the Government of Assam for revision of the GSAs and for installation of new pipelines by AGCL for delivering gas at required pressure at the earliest.
Regarding APDCL’s future planning for meeting the increasing demand of the state, the discom stated that the company is currently focusing on signing long-term agreements to ensure lower power purchase costs compared to the dynamic prices in the short-term market.
APDCL stated that the demand in FY 2025-26 is expected to be around 2950 MW. An APDCL official also stated that last summer the availability of power in the Power Exchange was sometimes very low; as such, short-term tenders are being floated for FY 2025-26 in the Ministry of Power (MoP)’s DEEP portal. APDCL already has floated three short-term tenders for 200 MW in MoP’s DEEP portal for FY 2025-26, FY 2026-27, and FY 2027-28, the official stated.
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