Transmission snags cause power cuts

 Bengaluru has to bear with frequent power cuts for a few more days though there is no shortage of electricity, thanks to technical glitches at the KPTCL.

Sources in the Energy Department said they were unable to bring the available power to the city due to “technical transmission constraints” at the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), leading to rampant power cuts in Bengaluru.

Increased power consumption due to rising temperatures and a fault in the 220 KV underground cable line are said to be the prime reasons for the load shedding. A line carrying 180 MW was the main source of power to the heart of the city, including the central business district areas. This apart, there is a severe transmission infrastructure crunch to supply power to the city from north-south corridor.

The 220 KV underground cable line was damaged when a BWSSB pipeline below it broke open six months ago. It took a month to find the fault in the line for the KPTCL and then call experts from outside as it didn’t have in-house expertise. “Since it is a 1,000 sq mm cable, we had to call experts. In case of an overhead line, it is easy to find where the problem is and it can be fixed in a few hours,’’ a top official in the KPTCL told DH.

The repair work at the HAL-EDC adjacent to Manipal Global is still going on and likely to be completed in about two weeks. A senior official, however, said it was difficult to set a timeframe. Another official said they were struggling to ensure power supply to Bengaluru by diverting 80 MW power from other smaller stations on the city outskirts. “Still, there is a deficit of 100 MW which is the reason for constant load shedding,” he said.

The rising mercury levels in the city has also added to the woes of both the Bescom and the KPTCL to stretch their resources to the maximum. “Even at 1 am in the morning, the demand is up by 800 MW. There is no decline even in non-peak hours due to sultry summer,” a senior official said.

How to avoid this problem

  Strengthen existing single circuit 220KV lines to double circuit lines
  Clear hurdles in North-South corridor to transmit power from North Karnataka
  Add another 220 KV dedicated to B’luru city
   Add more transformers to avoid overloading