Paddy Season
Power nigam enhances transmission capacity
Manish Sirhindi
Tribune News Service

Panipat, May 22
The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam(HVPN) is all set to meet the peak demand by increasing the capacity to transmit up to 8500 MW during the summer and paddy seasons, keeping in view 10 per cent annual load growth, particularly in the paddy-growing areas.

HVPN Managing Director Jyoti Arora said here today that the maximum load demand met by the power utilities was 5678 MW during July, 2009. The expected load growth this year was 500 MW for which the system had already been augmented to transmit additional 600 to 700 MW of power.

She said Haryana power utilities had commissioned 62 new substations and augmented 82 existing ones, besides laying 977 km of transmission lines at an investment of Rs 784 crore during 2010-11.

These included one 400-kV, five 220-kV, 12 132- kV, two 66-kV and 42 33-kV substations. Besides, the existing capacity of one 400- kV, 10 220- kV, 13 132- kV, 15 66- kV and 43 33-kV substations had been augmented in the state to upgrade the system.

To meet the requirements of paddy-growing areas, five 220-kV substations had been setup at Bastara (Karnal), Kaul (Kaithal), Samalkha (Panipat), Mohana (Sonepat) and Sampla (Rohtak).

She said a 132-kV mobile substation had been made available by the nigam in the paddy belt in Karnal district to ensure immediate restoration of power supply in the case of a breakdown.

Arora said an ambitious plan had been made to strengthen the transmission system under which five 400-kV new substations, 34 each of 220-kV and 132-kV substations, 24 66-kV and 89 33-kV substations would be set up during the next three years.

Simultaneously, the existing capacity of 118 substations would be augmented at an investment of Rs 266.54 crore. The utilities had also decided to erect 4458-km new transmission lines.