Notwithstanding the low level of industrialisation, Punjab is one of India’s major power producers and consumers. With a total installed capacity of 13,206 MW, the state accounts for more than four percent of national capacity and comes in at 10th position among the states (CEA, 2017). The sector, generally under the control of state government, accounts for a large share of the state public sector enterprises (SPSE). During the 1970s and 1980s, the power sector accounted for about 86
percent of state investment in SPSEs..The demand for investment and subsidies in this sector was consistently increasing, at the same time as the commercial losses of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) were increasing each year.The following is the current scenario of Punjab Power sector.

Installed Plant Capacity :

• The state share of installed plant capacity for different hydro electric power generation of Punjab is 2327 MW whereas it was 2640 for thermal power during 2017-18 (Revised Estimates).

Plant Load Factor :

• Energy generated by thermal power plants is 5205 Mkwh in 2017-18 (RE) with total plant load factor 22.51% whereas energy generated will be 5479 Mkwh in 2018-19 (Estimates) with 23.69% plant load factor.

Energy Availability :

• During 2017-18(RE) the total available energy was 56477 Mkwh. Out of this total available energy hydro plants generated 8415 Mkwh whereas thermal Plants contributed 5204 Mkwh. The anticipated purchase from other power plants of different states is expected to be 42858 Mkwh in 2017-18 (RE) which is higher than the last year. During 2018-19 (Estimates) it is estimated to make 59699 (Mkwh) energy available to the consumers.

Consumption Pattern of Electricity :

• During 2017-18(RE) the industrial sector, domestic sector, agriculture sector, commercial sector and others used 16000 Mkwh, 13796 Mkwh, 12356 Mkwh, 4028 MKwh and 1591 Mkwh electricity whereas it was 14314 Mkwh, 13080 Mkwh, 12009 Mkwh, 3802 Mkwh and 1508 Mkwh during 2016-17.

Tube wells Energized :

• Punjab being an agriculture state, high yielding varieties of seeds and use of chemical fertilizers have generated a great demand for irrigation. This gives a boost to utilization of ground water resources by installing tubewells. For this purpose, total number of tubewell energized during 2017-18 is 12628 which brings the cumulative number of tubewells energized in the state to 1364320.

Recent State Government Initiatives for Power Growth :

• Punjab is first State in the country to provide unique phone number 1912 for registration of complaints across the State thus reducing the consumer/utility inters face physically.
• Online registration & clearance for release of connections for Industrial Consumers above 100KW as well as online registration & clearance of application for granting NOC and approval of electric schemes of Residential colonies/building complexes/Shopping Malls/Commercial Complexes.
• Multiple bill payment options introduced – e-payment by Mobile App, Punjab Suvidha Kendras, Retail outlets, Common Service Centres (CSC, Centre Govt.), PayTM, RTGS/NEFT, Spot billing & collection and Bill Payment Machines.
• One stop solution for all consumers for information regarding supply schedules, scheduled power cuts & breakdowns etc. through website and PSPCL APP (on mobile).
• Customer care Centers & Centralized Electricity call centre functional for main cities has
  been rolled out for consumer based services.
• 24x7 Nodal Complaint Centres have been made operational at Divisional level for prompt redressal of complaints.
• Centralized online Consumer complaint/grievances handling system & GRMS (Grievances Redressal Mechanism) are placed.
• IT initiative taken for 47 towns under R-APDRP project has been completed. Additionally 97 more towns are being integrated under IPDS scheme.
• Under Govt. of India sponsored R-APDRP (Part-B) scheme, work for improving the distribution and sub transmission system in 46 towns with an approximate cost of Rs 1632.70 crore has been undertaken. The work of 16 towns has already been completed.
• The remaining will be completed by the end of this financial year. E-payments through Rupay Card, Cash Cards &Money Wallets PAYTM, RTGS/NEFT have also been introduced by PSPCL.

Transmission and Distribution Capacity and Losses :

• There are 939069 electrical distribution transformers with a capacity of 30560505 KVA installed in the state during 2016-17. The maximum number (106009) transformers were installed at Patiala followed by Sangrur (104271) and Ludhiana (68521) respectively. Pathankot has minimum (6528) number of transformers. There are 915 grid sub - station with transmission capacity of 53960(MVA). As far as the length of LT and HT lines are concerned, there are 152178 ckt km and 232289 ckt km during 2016-17 whereas it was 152446 ckt km and 219051 ckt km during 2015-16 respectively. Transmission and distribution losses are another area where special focus is needed. According to PSPCL, there are 15.68 % Aggregate Technical & Commercial losses as on 30.09.2017.

Enforcement Wing :

• The enforcement wing of PSPCL has checked 4,22,825 electricity connections during 2017-18 to curb the theft of electricity / leakage of revenue. Out of these checked connections 64,465 violations have been detected and the total amount of Rs.6306.88 lakhs has been charged from the defaulters. Besides this during 2018-19, all possible efforts will be made by Enforcement wing to reduce losses and eliminate theft of electricity.

Consumption of Petroleum Products :

• Petroleum is used in our everyday life like fueling, domestic and commercial uses, means of transportation, factories, manufacturing goods and many more products and by-products. The consumption of petrol in 2016-17 was 805822 M. Tonnes and high speed diesel was 3348076 M. Tonnes which showed upward trends. As far as L.P.G. consumption is concerned, it is 805940 M.Tonnes, having 6899945 L.P.G. regular connections. In Punjab there are 759 L.P.G. gas agencies which were responsible for regular supply of L.P.G to consumers. The consumption of other petroleum products like light diesel oil, furnance oil and was 6125 M.Tonnes and 216896 M.Tonnes respectively during 2016-17.

Renewable Energy :

• Punjab Energy Development Agency is the state nodal agency for the promotion and development of renewable energy projects and energy conservation projects in Punjab. At present the cumulative capacity of new and renewable sources of energy (NRSE) projects in the state is 1551.55 MW. It is estimated that the state of Punjab would further achieve an additional capacity of 3114.50 MW power through renewable sources of energy by the year 2022. The contribution would come from Solar, Biomass, Co-generation, Hydel and Waste to Energy Projects. The generation of power from above renewable sources of energy will also help in mitigating carbon dioxide emissions and combat climate change.

Source wise Estimated Potential and Installed Capacity of Renewable Power: Punjab (as on 31-01-2018)

State Government Initiatives in Renewable Energy :

• Scheme for installation of solar pumping in agriculture sector for irrigation purpose : In order to use Solar Power in Agriculture sector at large scale 5000 Solar pumps of capacity 3HP and 5HP are to be installed during the F.Y.2018-19 under the provision of 58% subsidy by Punjab govt. and 22% subsidy by Govt. of India of the total cost of the pump. These systems would be installed for irrigation in agriculture, horticulture and other allied sectors. The main beneficiaries of this scheme would be medium & small farmers. A total no. of 1955 solar pumps have been installed in the State. These 5000 pumps will save 20MW of electricity and about 80000 units per day and total saving in a year would be about 300 Lakhs units which will save about Rs. 14 crores of State Govt. being given as subsidy to the farmers. Solar Pumping scheme is very beneficial for State Govt. and the farmers.
• Solar Power Programme :Punjab is also endowed with vast potential of solar energy with over 300 days of sunshine in a year with insulation level varying between 4-7 Kwh/sq.km. At present installed capacity of Solar Power Projects is 898MW including rooftop plant of capacity 19.50 MW installed at Dera Beas in district Amritsar which is largest plant in the world.
• Biomass Power Projects : 7 projects of capacity 62.50 MW have been set up in the Punjab and 3 Biomass projects of capacity 14 MW are under installation i.e.6 MW in Village Manuke Gill District Moga, 4 MW ( Biomethanation based) in village Birpind Distt. Jalandhar and 4 MW in Village Binjon Distt. Hoshiarpur.
• Co-Generation Power Plants :Since the State of Punjab has an established industrial base which is expanding, Co-generation Plants have proved to be highly beneficial for the industry. The sugar, paper, fertilizer, chemical, textile and other industries are presently having an estimated combined potential of 500 MW. A capacity of 433.40 MW has already been added and projects of 50 MW capacities are under implementation.
• Micro/Mini Hydro Electric Power Projects : Punjab has total potential of over 250 MW at canal falls out of which 156.15 MW capacity projects are in operation.
• Waste to Energy Power Projects : At presently about 5000 Metric Tonnes of Municipal Urban and Industrial solid waste is being produced everyday in urban areas by introducing scientific processing and treatment of this quantity of waste would add to power generation besides being environmentally benignant. A project of 1.50 MW capacity has been successfully commissioned in Habowal dairy complex, Ludhiana and two more projects at Jamsher Dairy Complex, Jalandhar and Tajpur Dairy Complex, Ludhiana will be implemented during the next year.
• Apart from above mentioned projects, 54000 street lights, 1955 Solar Pumps, 9000 Home Lighting systems, 22500 Solar Cookers, 33 lakhs Litre Solar Water Heating Systems and 1.75 lakhs Biogas Plants have been installed in Punjab.

Bio-Gas Plants :

• Bio-gas plants not only provide energy in a clean and non-polluted form in rural areas but also produce nitrogen enriched manure for increasing crop production. Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has installed 1200 Bio-gas plants during 2017-18 against the target of 3050 Bio-gas plants.

Solar Thermal Systems Installed :

• Solar Energy Programme is aimed at supplementing thermal energy requirements by harnessing solar energy at different temperature by directly converting it into heat energy. Under Solar thermal extension programme, 29102 solar street lights are installed by Punjab Energy Development Agency during 2017-18.