Gandhinagar: Even as Gujarat’s electricity demand surged to an all-time high of 29,822MW on Oct 16, 36.6% higher than the same period last year, state govt on Tuesday said that Union coal ministry has assured supply of 10 to 11 coal rakes every day until Nov.Chief minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to take stock of the power demand situation in Gujarat. “Union coal ministry had assured the supply of 10-11 railway rakes of coal daily until Nov, with the number expected to rise to 13-14 rakes thereafter. The state has also secured additional power allocations and extended existing arrangements with central generating stations to cope with the demand surge,” an official statement said.The daily electricity consumption touched 574 million units on Oct 16, up from 457 million units in Oct last year, marking an increase of about 27%. Demand in Sept and Oct rose by around 4,000MW, or 12%, compared with previous years, according to a presentation made at the meeting.The surge is attributed to persistently high temperatures after a weak monsoon, increased cooling demand, agricultural irrigation, and higher industrial activity ahead of Diwali. Agricultural power demand alone has reached a daily peak of around 12,000MW as govt seeks to protect standing crops and ensure irrigation.The meeting, attended by energy minister Rushikesh Patel, minister of state for energy Kaushikbhai Vekariya, and chief secretary Manoj Kumar Das, reviewed immediate supply measures and long-term capacity expansion.“A key challenge is meeting the evening peak between 5pm and 11pm, when solar generation falls to zero and wind power remains variable. Lower hydropower generation, attributed to below-normal rainfall in Gujarat and neighbouring states, and reduced wind speeds have further constrained supplies,” govt said, adding that coal and gas-based plants are therefore being relied upon to bridge the gap, while the state load dispatch centre and distribution companies monitor grid stability and balance demand and supply.The state has secured 329MW from NTPC’s Farakka plant for Nov and a long-term allocation of 551MW from the Centre’s power generation share in Assam. Power purchase arrangements for 716MW from NTPC’s Bara-I and Dadri-I thermal stations have also been extended by a year, until March 2028. Gujarat has sought an additional 500MW from the unallocated share of central generating stations, govt said.Govt is also banking on battery energy storage systems (BESS) to store surplus solar power generated during the day for use during evening peak hours. Gujarat currently has 192MW of operational battery storage capacity, while contracts have been finalised for projects totalling 2,742MW with a storage capacity of 5,517MWh. The department expects 500MW/1,000MWh to become operational by March 2027, while tenders for another 1,000 MW/4,000MWh are under way.Officials have also been asked to align agricultural power consumption with daylight hours to make better use of the roughly 12,000MW of solar power generated in the state during the day.
