Power from Rawatbhata atomic plant in Rajasthan helps meet Delhi's growing electricity demand

New Delhi: Nuclear energy in the form of electricity from Rawatbhata plant in Rajasthan is helping meet the ever-growing power demand of the national capital, officials said on Thursday.

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) last year received a letter from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for confirming the 101.11 MW allocated share of Delhi.

The commission in an order earlier this year allocated 32.43 MW of this power to Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL), 44.71 MW to BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), 23.20 MW to BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) and 0.77 MW to Military Engineer Services (MES), based on their actual energy consumption in the last five years, said the order.

The tentative tariff per unit was conveyed by the NPCIL to be Rs 4.83 plus water charges, insurance charges and taxes for the first year, said the order.

The commission directed the discoms to adhere to the assigned allocation and take necessary action for execution of power purchase agreements with NPCIL.

Sources said that Delhi has started receiving the power from RAPS units from April 15 this year. At present, only one unit of the plant is commissioned to Delhi which is currently receiving 25-30 MW of nuclear energy, they added.

The RAPS 7&8 are a pair of indigenously designed nuclear power plant of 700 MW unit size, located at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan.

The power demand of Delhi is galloping post COVID. The all-time high peak power demand of the city was registered at 8656 MW on June 19 last year. This year, it is likely to cross 9000 MW during the ongoing summer season.

The power demand on Wednesday leapt amid intense summer heat, peaking at 7748 MW, highest of the summer season so far. It was the highest peak power demand on May 21 since 2020, officials said.

The power discoms in Delhi have also entered into long-term power purchase agreements and banking arrangements with other states to meet the power demand in the city. BSES discoms BRPL and BYPL also have arrangements of 2100 MW green power to meet the growing need.

The TPDDL discom too has strategic measures like bilateral tie-ups, reserve shut downs, access to power exchange as well as short-term power procurement to meed the spike in demand.