Dark Patch For Continuous Process Industries
The continuous process industries, which need uninterrupted power supply for the production process, are hit by the unscheduled load-shedding and the demand and energy cut since November 1. According to V. Rajakumar, managing director of Ram Oxygen Private Limited, all machines in a continuous process industry should be switched on to manufacture the product. If there is a demand cut, it is not possible to switch on all the machines.Hence, these units now have a restriction on the number of working days. However, the schedule of working days has been provided by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. In addition, the units cannot draw power from the Board during the evening peak hours, and they face a couple of hours of load-shedding every day. Industrial units such as foundries with induction furnace, casting producers and oxygen manufacturers should be allowed to decide the schedule of working days according to their requirement, and they should be exempted from the peak hour restriction. When operations begin after a gap of seven-eight days, the plant is run for 20 hours to get back to normal functioning. “This is a dark patch for such companies,” Mr. Rajakumar says.
