The quantum of interregional electricity transfer during the first three quarters (April to December) of FY22 was up 7 per cent year-on-year, according to a T&D India study based on statistics released by National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC).
The total volume of electricity transfer in the said period was 171,853 million kwh (million units or MU) as against 160,641 MU in the April-December period of FY21.
The Northern Region Grid (NR) and the Southern Grid (SR) continued to be net importers of electricity while the other three regions – Western (WR), Eastern (ER) and Northeastern (NER) – were net exporters.
The rate of growth of interregional transfer appears to have slowed down in the second and third quarters of FY22 as such growth in the first four months (April to July) of FY22 stood at a much higher 16.6 per cent.
Here are some highlights of electricity transfer at the regional level
- Import of electricity by WR more than doubled in the April-December period of FY22, rising to 35,447 MU from 15,329 MU in the April-December period of FY21. Most of this growth came through higher imports from NR, which rose 77.1 per cent to 18,947 MU in the April-December period of FY22 from 10,699 MU in the same period of FY21.
- Exports by SR more than quadrupled from 3,239 MU in the first three quarters of FY21 to 13,223 MU in the corresponding period of FY22. A further analysis suggests that this spurt in exports from SR came due to significantly higher transfers from SR to WR, via the newly-commissioned Raigarh-Pugalur HVDC line.
- There appears to have been a surplus in NR given that exports from NR saw a major increase in the April-December period of FY22. NR is usually a net importer of electricity, with the meaning that imports by NR are far higher than exports from NR. In the said period of FY22, NR exported 20,001 MU of electricity, 70 per cent higher than the 11,734 MU exported in the same period of FY21. Statistics suggest that this growth in exports from NR came about through higher transfers to WR. There was not much change in the quantum of electricity imported by NR in the period under study, though.
