Chandigarh
 
Punjab’s power crisis spilled over into the industrial sector overnight, with PSPCL shutting electricity supply to Category-II industrial feeders for 10 hours — from 8 pm on Friday to 6 am on Saturday. The overnight curtailment, which left most industrial units connected to these feeders without power, came as the state’s electricity demand crossed 16,000 MW against generation of only 4,501 MW, while outages at thermal units and higher farm demand further strained the system.
 
The shutdown was scheduled specifically for the Friday night-Saturday morning period and, according to the information available, was not announced as a continuing schedule. The industrial cut came amid long outages in rural areas and repeated tripping in several major cities, adding to concerns over the state’s ability to meet the rising demand.
 
Powercom figures put Punjab’s total demand at 16,112 MW, against total generation of 4,501 MW. Thermal plants contributed 3,495 MW, including 1,637 MW from government plants and 1,858 MW from private plants, while solar projects contributed 473 MW in the reported snapshot.
 
Demand had risen sharply from 11,655 MW at midnight on Thursday to 14,195 MW by 8.30 am on Friday, and crossed 16,500 MW during the day. Generation from the state’s own sources remained around 4,000 MW from night to morning, forcing PSPCL to draw about 7,100 MW from the central pool during that period.
 
The Corporation was buying around 11,770 MW from the central pool on Friday to bridge the widening gap, including costly power.
 
Thermal Generation Hit By Unit Shutdowns

The shortfall was compounded by outages at thermal plants. One of the three units at the Talwandi Sabo private thermal plant was shut, while a unit at Rajpura thermal plant had remained out of operation since late Thursday night. A government thermal unit was also shut, taking the number of non-operational units to three at one stage.
 
The source material also records shutdowns of one unit each at Ropar and Goindwal; the Goindwal unit was subsequently restored. Private thermal plants were producing around 1,700 MW in the morning.
 
While coal shortage has been cited as a factor behind the broader power crisis, Talwandi Sabo plant PRO Abhishek Sharma said that the plant had around 20 days of coal stock and was receiving regular supplies. He said technical problems had forced some units to be taken up for repairs, affecting generation.
 
Low Rainfall Pushes Up Farm Demand

PSEB Engineers Association general secretary Ajay Pal Singh said coal-mine operations are affected during the rainy season, which can disrupt supplies to thermal plants and reduce generation.
 
At the same time, inadequate rainfall has increased agricultural power demand during the paddy season. With fields requiring irrigation, farmers are running tubewells more frequently, adding to the pressure on the grid.
 
Solar power provides little support after sunset, with projects producing around 385 MW during the afternoon but no power at night. Hydro projects, with a combined capacity of around 900 MW, are generating about 800 MW, with output varying between 500 MW and 830 MW.
 
Outages Spread Beyond Industry

The industrial shutdown came as rural Punjab continued to face long power cuts, while consumers in Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Pathankot, Bathinda, Patiala and Hoshiarpur reported repeated tripping.
 
Power engineers said rising demand was causing frequency fluctuations and grid trips, resulting in outages of one to two hours in several areas.
 
With demand continuing to outpace available generation, PSPCL’s growing dependence on central-pool power has provided a temporary cushion but has also increased the pressure of procuring expensive electricity to keep the system running.