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Valley’s Energy Demand Grows By 10% Annually

  • Despite supply constraints, the annual demand for electricity in Kashmir valley is increasing by an average 10 percent, forcing Power Development Department (PDD) to enforce curtailment schedule to maintain supply.As per official figures this winter PDD has pumped on an average 1400 MW of electricity in valley during the winter months.Surprisingly, government has submitted that installed capacity of every transformer is about six times the total agreed load of consumers fed from it with rate of damage of distribution transformers increasing every passing month.

  • As per the data, during the current year, as many as 5972 distribution transformers got damaged ending December 2011, out of which 5866 were repaired and re-installed.According to the data submitted in Legislative Assembly, Kashmir valley (excluding those areas which are not connected to grid supplies) has un-restricted load of 1400 MW and most of the demand is met by importing electricity from Northern Grid.

  • “This un-restricted load during winter time when local generation falls down to 20%  -25% raises dependence on imports mainly, with all these resources available, as much as 550 MW had to be curtailed”, government said in a reply.

  • Government said PDD has no choice but to design a curtailment programme for metered and un-metered areas in valley. “In metered areas we had to enforce curtailment schedule of an average period of two and a half hours daily and in unmetered areas,average cut for nine and a half hours daily is being enforced barring hospitals, PHE installations and other essential services which are given 24x7 supply”, PDD has submitted.

  • Overlooking its own failures, PDD has said that in some areas of valley there have been line constraints like Bank Overloading or Transmission Line overloading, as load growth has been very irregular and consumer cooperation absent. On repair of transformers, PDD has submitted that damaged transformers are being repaired in divisional workshops and Central Workshop at Pampore.

  • “At various occasions, workshops are over burdened by these damaged transformers and to facilitate their speedy repairs, the department employs the service of Registered Repairing Agencies (private firms) as well”, he said.

  • PDD has submitted that in order to meet the rising demands of electricity locally, state government has signed an agreement to take up 1000 MW Pakaldul, 600 MW Kiru and 520 Kawar HEPs in Joint Venture with NHPC and NPTC.

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