Srinagar: The Chandigarh Union Territory electricity department has decided to purchase power from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and from short-term sources like power exchange.
The department will buy power from J&K till August. The power will, however, be returned to J&K in November and December, Times of India reported.
As per estimates, the peak power demand in next summers (2019-20) will touch 404 MW. Besides, the peak power demand in Chandigarh will jump to 448 megawatt (MW) in the financial year 2021-2022.
The UT electricity department in its multi-year tariff (MYT) petition filed before the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), submitted about the peak hour demand—period of high consumer demand in the coming years.
With population projected to grow at a high rate, the UT electricity department is already facing a tough challenge of providing uninterrupted power supply to the city residents. The department has also planned to improve its power infrastructure. As per the official record, there are five 33KV sub-stations and thirteen 66KV sub-stations located in different parts of the city. As per the norms, a sub-station has a life span of 25 years. Around six 66KV sub-stations have crossed their life span and the number of such sub-stations will continue to grow.
As per the plan, a total of 12 new 66KV grid sub-stations will be established while all the existing 66KV sub-stations will be upgraded in the next 10 years. There is overhead transmission line of 2037 kilometer in the city, which will be converted into underground line.
The department has set a deadline of 10 years for completion of the work. There is also a plan to install new 1,825 distribution transformers.
The electricity department caters to 2.28 lakh consumers divided into nine different categories. As per the official figures, of total consumers 1.99 lakh are domestic, which accounts to more than 87% of total consumers. Remaining 23% belongs to other categories namely commercial, small power, medium supply, large supply, bulk supply, public lighting, agriculture power and temporary supply.