Power, emergency services affected

Notwithstanding assurances from power officials that the strike by power employees (of APTransco, APGenco and the four discoms) would not affect the state too much, several districts in the state are without any power, and emergency services have been badly hit. Around 30,000 electricity employees are on an indefinite strike in the Seemandhra region, which began immediately after the 48-hour strike ended. The strike has hit power generation in major power plants in coastal Andhra and also transmission across the state. The state has lost close to 4,000 MW of power due to the strike. With such a large amount going off the grid, the Southern grid was threatened and therefore the large-scale power cuts imposed across the state. “Apart from the Srisailam Right Bank losing total generation, even generation from the Left Bank has gone down to 300 MW from 900 MW due to switching off of supply to Anantapur and Kurnool completely. The total hydel generation has come down substantially from the 35 MU to 40 MU on Saturday,” said director (hydel) APGenco, G. Adhisheshu. Generation at Vijayawada thermal power station and Rayalaseema thermal power station came down further on Sunday by 2,500 MW as against 1,750 MW on Saturday. “In order to maintain the grid, power cuts have to be imposed as we need to balance the power coming into the grid and being drawn from the grid. As a result of loss of generation, total supply had to be cut to certain districts to maintain grid health to prevent a total blackout of the southern region,” explained a senior official from APTransco. The power cuts affected the supply of water, and railway services in Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, Anatapur, and Kurnool districts. While Vijayawada thermal power station was maintaining minimum generation so that the restarting of units becomes easier, the Rayalaseema thermal power plant has been completely shut down. The loss of generation at these two plants has crossed 2,500 MW. Hydel power from the Srisailam Right Bank, which generated 700 MW during peak hours, has also been stopped.