To bridge the shortage of 4,000 mw in Tamil Nadu, the State's Tangedco has gone for the power purchase. The state’s power demand hovers around 12,000 mw but the availability from various sources is in the range of 8,000 mw. The TNERC has noted that the availability of open access to southern region from the other regions is a critical issue. During the hearing,
Tangedco said all the four southern states compete for open access for procurement of power from other regions and whatever capacity is available it is distributed proportionately to various short-term open access applicants. The open access availability is virtually negligible in view of the booking of the corridor even beyond June 2013.
Chief Engineer of Private Power Projects (PPP), Tangedco, said that the open access availability will be not more than 25 per cent of the applied quantum of the proposed power purchase aggregating to 1,177 mw of RTC power and corresponding energy of 10,150 mu.