The Telangana State is facing huge power crisis and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has set an ambitious target to the Telangana power generation corporation of generating 20,000 MW of power in the next three years.Assuming that the Corporation would be able to achieve the target within three years, the State cannot continue to face the power crisis during this period.
Even if the State tries to procure 2,000 MW of power from Chattisgarh, it will take at least two years to lay the transmission lines. In the meantime, the people would continue to face power cuts.
Energy conservation measures to result in an annual saving of 7,500 mn units of power in Telangana; It will help people overcome power shortage, at least partially
So, what is the best possible solution to overcome the crisis at least partially? According to officials in the electricity department, the best option before the people is to conserve as much energy as possible by judicious use of electricity. According to an estimate made by the State Energy Conservation Mission (SECM), the Telangana State can save about 7,500 million units (MU) of power annually by adopting energy conservation methods. And the savings in terms of money are mindboggling: Rs 4,000 crore per year! At present, the Telangana State has access to 4400 MW of power, while the requirement is about 7000 MW. In terms of daily demand and supply situation of power, on average, there is at least a 14 MU shortfall of supply. Against the average demand of 136.9 MU of energy, the State is only able to provide 122 MU each day. This has led to power department carrying out load reliefs, varying from four hours in urban areas to more than eight hours in rural areas.
SOME POWER SAVING TIPS
- Replace all incandescent lamps with Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lamps.
– Encourage utilization of star-rated appliances in all households/offices
– Check leakage of water at water taps, pipes, valves etc for saving power in pumping.
– Limit excessive illumination levels to standard levels especially in IT industries
– Control lighting with clock timers, delay timers, photocells, occupancy sensors
– Switch off lights, fans, ACs, computers etc. while leaving the office/room.
– AC unit setting should be more than 24 degrees C. Each one degree increase in temperature setting will reduce AC consumption by 8%
