With the power demand going up daily in the State, the electricity infrastructure, some decades old, is getting overloaded. To combat this, the Energy Department has directed the respective electricity supply companies (escoms) to divert electricity from underloaded lines to overloaded lines.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Energy Minister K.J. George said, “In a few places, especially in Tumakuru, Haveri, and Chitradurga, we found that when the demand went up, the transmission lines or substations were getting overloaded. While we have enough power to provide them with an uninterrupted supply, we need to divert the capacity. Hence, I have ordered escoms to use link lines.”
To improve transmission and distribution in the State, the Department also plans to increase the number of substations. While around 50 new substations have been set up every year in the last five years, Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) plans to set up 100 new substations in the current financial year.
“Our current transmission capacity is around 30,000 megawatts (MW). We want to double this in the next three to four years,” informed Pankaj Kumar Pandey, managing director, KPTCL.
He also said that, unlike previous years when transformers with less capacity used to be installed in 66 kV substations, now maximum capacity transformers are being installed. Further, steps are being taken to upgrade from 220 kV substations to 400 kV substations in the transmission network. “Currently, there are nine 400 kV substations, and work is underway for another seven of them. We have also given tender for another five to six 400 kV substations,” Mr. Pandey said.
The officials of the Energy Department said that even though power demand is around 10 – 15% higher than last year and is expected to reach an unprecedented 19,000 MW this year, there will be no power cuts (for reasons other than technical issues) nor load-shedding.
“Compared to last year, the electricity demand has significantly increased. On February 27 last year, the demand was 16,214 MW, whereas on the same day this year, the demand was 17,874 MW. This demand has been adequately met. Similarly, steps have been taken to ensure that there will be no issues in supplying electricity in the same manner until the first week of June,” Gaurav Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, Energy Department.
Along with power generated in the State, the power from central generating stations (CGS), the central grid, and power amounting to 700 MW obtained from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh on an exchange basis is being used to manage the demand.
“To further meet electricity demand, an additional 310 MW will be sourced starting Friday (March 1). Depending on demand, 100 to 1,275 MW will be obtained daily through exchange agreements, and 300 MW will be procured from Punjab. Additionally, 1,000 MW of electricity will be purchased daily until the first week of June,” the officials said.
QR code to authenticate electricity inspection approval
The Electrical Inspectorate, which is responsible for approving plans and operations of various electricity projects, including lifts, escalators, and travelators, launched a QR code on Friday to authenticate the approval letters issued by them.
In recent days, the Inspectorate has seen that many fake operational and security approval letters were given to escoms to get the project operational. Hence, to protect the integrity of the approval letters, a QR code will henceforth be attached which can be scanned by the escom officials to authenticate it.
It can also be used by the public to authenticate the approval letters provided by the Electrical Inspectorate.
Published – February 28, 2025 07:16 pm IST