Discoms buckle up to minimise power loss

New Delhi: With the peak power demand in the national capital expected to touch 6,600 MW this summer, the authorities have geared up to minimise outages by reducing the faults due to transmission issues.

The Delhi government said that the power distribution companies have already submitted a summer action plan, which needs to be examined for its technical and financial aspects.

For this purpose, Delhi Transco Limited has issued a circular for an external agency to be roped in to examine the action plan, an official said.

Power department officials said that Delhi already has a power purchase agreement of 7,000 MW, which is much more than the peak power demand the city is expected to touch this summer. “It was decided to rope in an external agency to examine the technical aspects and the expenditure involved to execute the new projects,” an official said.

He said that the authorities are better geared up this time to meet the power demands of the city and minimise the outages. “The authorities are working in close coordination to resolve the transmission issues and faults that might cause outages. The Badarpur thermal power plant, which was shut down after the National Green Tribunal’s orders, will be reopened in April when the peak power demand shoots up to 5,000 MW and above,” the official added.

Power discom sources said that a summer action plan was submitted to the city government in September last year. “Since the peak power demand in the city is expected to touch 6,500 - 6,600 MW, the discoms are working in close coordination with Delhi Transco to minimise outages,” the source said.

Power experts said that last year, the discoms had faced space constraints in installing new equipment in the unauthorised colonies.

The peak power demand in South and West Delhi, covered by BRPL, which had reached 2669 MW during the summers of 2016, is expected to touch around 2800 MW this year. The peak demand in East and Central Delhi, covered by BYPL, had reached 1493 MW last year. This year, it is expected to touch around 1600 MW. “Arrangements have been firmed up by BRPL and BYPL to source adequate power to meet the peak power demand of over 38.8 lakh consumers during the ensuing summer months. These arrangements include long term PPAs and banking arrangements with other states. BRPL will get around 200 MW of power through banking arrangements while BYPL will get around 170 MW. In case of unforeseen contingencies because of low generation and outages of power plants, the discoms will purchase short-term power from the exchange,” a BSES spokesperson said.