AP govt taking steps for uninterrupted power supply

Vijayawada: Minister for Energy Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy on Friday said the government is fully geared up to meet the growing demand for power during summer.

During a virtual review meeting with senior officials, he said the rise in energy consumption is a sign of economic progress in the State. “For an instance, the electricity demand in Visakhapatnam city alone was 6696 MU in 2018-19 which went up to 8164 MU in 2021-22 translating to a 22 per cent increase in energy consumption. The uptick in demand clearly shows the increasing economic activity in Visakhapatnam,” he stated.

The Minister asked the utilities to maintain the same tempo in supplying 24x7 power supply in coming months as well. He also asked utilities to lay special focus on agriculture power supply which is one of the highest priorities of the State Government. The energy demand has been increasing year on year. The peak demand has increased by around 27.51 per cent compared to the peak demand of last year. For instance, the energy demand in the month of March-2020 was 5853.39 MU whereas the monthly energy demand in March-2023 reached 6781.54 MU with an increase of around 16 per cent. Similarly, the average day demand in May-2020 was 180.69 MU as against the average day demand of 210.20 MU up to May 17, 2023 with an increase of 16.33 per cent. The peak demand in May-2020 was 10,101 MW as against 12,156 MW in May-2023 up to May 17, 2023.

While Energy Department officials explained about the growth trends, the Minister said that the government is committed to meet any rise in energy demand and ensure 24x7 quality power supply to the consumers and nine hours daytime power supply to the agriculture sector.