Tamil Nadu’s total installed power capacity is likely to increase by about 31.8% to 47,048 MW by 2026-27 from 35,690 MW in 2021-22, as per the National Electricity Plan (Draft) (Volume-II: Transmission) by the Central Electricity Authority, under the Union Ministry of Power.
Tamil Nadu saw a maximum all-time high demand of 19,387 MW on April 20 last year. It has the highest power demand among Southern States.
As per the draft national electricity transmission plan, Tamil Nadu’s peak electricity demand is expected to be 21,736 MW by 2026-27 when compared to actual demand of 16,891 MW in 2021-22. The total energy requirement is expected to be 1,44,0,86 units by 2026-27.
Among major sources, the State’s coal capacity is projected to increase to 18,128 MW by 2026-27 from 13,685 MW at the end of March, 2022, while nuclear capacity is expected to increase to 5,940 MW from 2,440 MW, while the gas and hydro capacity are expected to remain stagnant, as per the report.
Among renewable energy sources, the installed wind capacity in Tamil Nadu is expected to increase to 12,556 MW by 2026-27 from 9,871 MW at the end of March 2022. Solar capacity is expected to increase to 5,316 MW by 2026-27 from 5,112 MW at the end of March 2022. Among the emerging green energy sources, the report expects an installed capacity of 900 MW of pumped storage projects in Tamil Nadu.
Overall the installed electricity generation capacity in India at the end of March 2027, would be about 609.6 GW. The overall peak electricity demand is likely to be 2,77,201 MW, as per the draft report.
Based on the planned generation capacity addition and projected electricity demand, about 1,23,577 circuit kilometres (ckm) of transmission lines and 710,940 MVA of transformation capacity in the substations at 220 kV and above voltage levels are required to be added during the period 2022-27, it said.
