Thermal plants on standby as wind power crosses 5,000 MW

A senior Tangedco official said that the generation of wind power has picked up, crossing the 5,000 MW mark in the last two days. On July 19, the wind power recorded a peak generation of 5,013 MW while it was 5,012 MW on July 18.

The Tangedco has evacuated 104 million units of wind energy on Friday and 84 million units on Thursday, which accounts for nearly 33 per cent of the State’s total energy consumption.

“The increasing wind power generation and evacuation has helped us keep the thermal power units on standby mode. Nearly 1,230 MW of thermal power units are on standby, and to that extent we are saving coal and supporting a clean environment,” said a senior official. The total thermal power generation by Tangedco units was around 2,065 MW against a total capacityof 4,320 MW.

Three units of 210 MW capacity each of Tuticorin Thermal Power Plant were being kept in the standby mode since July 15, while the 600 MW unit I of the North Chennai Thermal Power Plant Stage II is on standby from Friday.

Tamil Nadu is among the very few states that shut down thermal units during summer due to availability of wind power. On Friday, theofficial said that wind power generation was so high that generation remained over 4,000 MWfor all through the day.

On Friday, when power demand was around 13,758 MW, wind power alone contributed 30 per cent of the total supply. “Along with solar power, the percentage of renewable power crossed 40 per cent.

Wind is available early in the morning as well as in the evening. Solar evacuation is also high now. We evacuated 1,871 MW solar power at noon on Friday,” said the official.