New Delhi and the north to get additional 150 mw of power

A power-starved New Delhi and the northern region will shortly get an additional 100 to 150 megawatts of electricity from the eastern region, Power Grid Corporation officials said.

Already, the flow of surplus power from the east has been stepped up to the western, southern and north-eastern regions. In June, a record amount of power was redirected, benefiting both donor and recipients and saving the national economy over Rs 10 billion.

The ministry of power has been taking active steps to promote inter-regional exchange of power to reduce India's overall deficit. This implies better distribution of the surplus power now available in the eastern region, especially Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal.

Reorientation of power to the north has been made possible by the PGC working on a war footing with active cooperation from the Central Electricity Authority, the Bihar State Electricity Board, and the Delhi electricity board.

The work, completed in 30 working days, included the reorientation of the Bodhgaya-Biharsharif and Gaya-Barhi 132 kv/dc lines to provide an additional 132 kv d/c line between Gaya and Bodhgaya.

Further, facilities at the Gaya substation has been strengthened and protection and communication systems updated to enable the transfer of 100 to 150 mw of surplus power on a round-the-clock basis.

The modification would result not only in extra power for Delhi and the northern region, but save nearly Rs 100 million of the eastern region's money every month. Besides, it would improve power supply to Patna, Sonenagar and Bihar's Barhi area.

Even after these measures, the eastern region would still have surplus power. Short-term and long-term schemes to utilise this have been formulated, Power Grid engineers said. These include power supply to north Bengal, north Bihar and Bhubaneshwar areas.

UNI