: The AP-Southern and Eastern Power Distribution Companies Limited will be providing uninterrupted power supply to High Tension (HT) consumers in Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Rajahmundry and Tirupati cities and industrial areas of Krishnapatnam and Sri City as a pilot project from April. However, the power comes at a premium of Rs.0.25 per unit as ‘reliability charge’ over and above the HT tariff payable on loads exceeding 33kv.
CEA standards
The initiative is a part of the State government’s effort to bring down the interruptions to standards set by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), which are 2019 minutes per year (System Average Interruption Duration Index - SAIDI) and 99.04 interruptions per year (System Average Interruption Frequency Index - SAIFI).
Singapore index
According to official sources, A.P has currently an interruption of 6,000 minutes per customer per year compared to 100 to 200 minutes in the US and Australia respectively. Singapore has the best SAIDI of 0.47 minutes and in the United Kingdom it is 34 minutes.
A senior official of the SPDCL told The Hindu that it was the reliability of power supply (zero load restrictions) that encouraged global industrial players to look at A.P as an ideal destination for their ventures. Companies like Xi’an LONGi and Foxconn expressed desire for interruption-free power supply to foray into A.P and some MNCs have already set up their units in Visakhapatnam and Sri City.
Pilot project
The above pilot project will be on for six to nine months during which a detailed analysis will be done. The initiative will be eventually expanded to all HT consumers across the State to make it the most preferred investment destination in India.
Revenue mobilisation
By improving efficiency, the DISCOMs can mop up sizable revenue but only when the requisite additional infrastructure is created for the project.
It is here the investments that Japan International Cooperation Agency has committed to make in the State’s High Voltage Distribution System comes into picture.
Aim is to make the State the most preferred investment destination
