Chennai, Aug 13 (IANS): Terming the earlier government's statements that Tamil Nadu is power surplus state as inaccurate, state Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said 17,980 MW new power capacity will be added over the next 10 years.
Presenting the budget for 2021-22, Rajan said: "Almost 2,500 MW of power has had to be bought on the power exchanges to meet peak needs. Thus, the statement that Tamil Nadu turned a power surplus state over the last few years is inaccurate."
He said the aggregate installed power generation capacity in Tamil Nadu is 32,646 MW, including wind and solar capacity of 13,128 MW, but the actual maximum availability of power during peak requirement is only 14,351 MW as against the peak demand of 16,846 MW.
The main reason for peak requirements being unmet is that wind energy is seasonal and solar energy is available only during the day.
Terming the financial losses suffered by the state power utilities unsustainable, Rajan said under the ADB-assisted Chennai Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) Power Sector Investment Project, a strategic study of TANGEDCO and TANTRANSCO's governance and financial restructuring will be undertaken.
The government will act speedily on the findings of the study to revamp the electricity utilities and to save them from collapse, he said.