ANI Admn Makes Audit of Power Transmission and Distribution Public

ANI Admn Makes Audit of Power Transmission and Distribution Public

LG directs Electricity Deptt. to be more Responsive to Public

Port Blair, Nov. 10: With a view to ensuring uninterrupted power supply by augmenting the electricity generation, the Electricity Department has come out with an action plan. According to an official press release, the action plan would consist of both short & long term remedial measures. As for addressing immediate problem, while a Feeder Control Room is ready for commissioning by the end of this month, a 33 KV sea link lines between Surya Chakra Power Plant at Bambooflat and Chatham Power House will become operational by December, 2014.

A presentation was made on 05.11.2014 to Hon’ble Lt. Governor by the Secretary (Power) in presence of Chief Secretary & Other Senior Officers of Administration regarding the report of Audit of Transmission & Distribution System. In the presentation, the entire scenario of electricity generation was explained threadbare by the Department.

Power Generation in A&N Islands is a “Stand alone system” i.e. the Electricity System set up to generate power and distribute electricity in a specified area without connection to the grid. Moreover, the electricity distribution system in A&N Islands cannot be compared to the grid of mainland as the “Grid” is a high voltage back bone system of interconnected transmission lines, sub-station and generating plants.

The highest voltage level in A&N Islands is 33 Kilo Volts (KV) which comes under distribution network and the transmission network starts from 66 KV onwards as per Standard Electrical Practice. The power is transmitted to the consumers through 4734 Kms. HT & LT distribution line and distributed through 889 Distribution Transformers.

Due to the peculiar geographical location of A&N Islands, during both South West and North East Monsoon season’s inclement weather, heavy rain and high wind pressure are observed. During such weather conditions, faults and damages in the overhead T&D system, is unavoidable. In the absence of a grid, the magnitude of the fault current due to any fault in the system collapses the complete generation sources.

However, the impact of same could be reduced by adopting preventive measures and strengthening & up-gradation of the system.
As per the Audit Report the major faults prone zones are Rural South Andaman area, Kadamtala to Rangat, Rangat to Mayabunder and Mayabunder to Diglipur and the causes of power interruptions are the majority of distribution system comprises of overhead lines with bare conductor passing through thick vegetation and forest; most of the overhead lines of aluminum conductor have corroded due to oxidation and ageing and due to heavy rains and high speed wind, the branches & trees falls on these lines.

According to the release, the Long term measure aims at improving the power supply reliability the Electricity Department which proposes to replace the overhead bare conductors with insulated cables in the Rural areas and establish 02 sub-stations in South Andaman. In Havelock NTPC will install a 3 MW Power Plant in 2015. In North & Middle Andaman, a 33 KV Double Circuit exclusive transmission line on towers will be established from Kadamtala to Diglipur with sub-stations at 10 locations. Indoor and Outdoor Circuit Breakers of some power houses will also be replaced. The total cost to carry out the works proposed in the Long term measure will be approximately Rs. 300.00 Crores for which provision will be kept in the Annual Plan of 2015-16 and 2016-17.

The Ministry of Power will be requested for providing assistance for said proposed schemes. Some of the said projects are expected to be completed within next two years.

The Department also felt it necessary to clarify its stands in the pretext of a report in a section of the local press, on 4th November 2014, that in spite of having limited resources, the Electricity Department is meeting out the parameters of the “Standard of Performance” laid down by JERC for repair and restoration of power supply. The minimum time to restore the power supply in-case of fuse failure laid down by JERC is 04 Hrs. in Urban area and 08 Hrs. in Rural areas. It is also a fact that the power supply availability in all the 19 major inhabited Islands is about 95% on an average in a month which is better than all other parts of India.

It would not be out of place to mention here that maintenance of smooth power supply is due to the hard work and commitment of the Engineers, Staff of Electricity Department and proper monitoring by Senior Officers. The power interruptions are being restored within the time limit specified by the JERC despite of several difficulties, hurdles and adverse weather conditions that too in dense forest areas.

The Lt. Governor during the presentation has appreciated the efforts of Electricity Department for maintaining regular power supply to the public with its limited resources and in adverse weather conditions. He also appreciated the action plan of the audit report conducted by the department. It is also a fact that the power which is made available to the general public of these islands is highly subsidized. The per unit cost of power generation and transmitting it to the consumer end is Rs. 24.70 whereas the average realization from the general public is Rs.4.49 only. This is again one of the highest subsidized rates of power in India.

The release further says that since, the major portion of budget is spent on generation of electricity by diesel, so there is a pressing need that each and every consumer to conserve electricity by reducing their consumption in a duty bound manner. In this regard, initiation has been taken by Lt. Governor himself by reducing the power consumption of Raj Niwas by 22.6% in a period April to October, 2014 as compared to previous year.

Meanwhile, the Lt. Governor has already given direction to all the Govt. Departments to reduce their power consumption by 10%. Each department has been asked to strictly follow and monitor their power consumption on regular basis. However, these instructions are not applicable to the essential services like Hospitals, Cold Storage etc.

The A&N Administration is also in process of establishing a LNG Based Power Plant at South Andaman for providing environmental friendly, clean and low cost power to the general public. Besides this the Administration is also striving hard to establish number of Renewable Energy projects like Solar and Wind Energy Power Plants.

The Lt. Governor has further directed during the presentation that any power cuts may be publicized through various print, audio and visual media. The Helpline numbers may also be published again for information of general public. He also directed that the normal timing in case of disruption of power supply may be informed to Superintending Engineer, Electricity Department and Secretary (Power). In case of any major power breakdown, the Chief Secretary also to be informed on priority. Conclusively, the Lt. Governor also directed the department to be more responsive and responsible to the general public, the press release added.