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.
