The Venkatanagar 110 KV substation that could considerably improve power distribution in downtown Puducherry is to be commissioned shortly.
The Rs. 44.53-crore power house will be yet another vital link in the Puducherry Electricity Department’s (PED) interconnected grid of 12 substations, including the two 230 KV auto substations at Villianur and Bahour that step down the power to 110 KV for distribution to other substations in the network, and from there to consumer households.
“The final works are going on and we should be commissioning the substation latest by the second week of June,” said P.R. Meena, Power Secretary.
The Power Grid Corporation of India is the executing agency for the project which was initiated in February 2011.
The PED’s plan is to link the Venkatanagar substation to the Marapalam 110 KV (22 KV and 11 KV step down) substation, which is the primary powerhouse that feeds electricity to the urban and suburban areas of the Puducherry town.
The Marapalam substation, is in turn, connected to the Villianur 230 auto substation through a double circuit 110 KV line.
Unlike other substations, for instance, the Sedarapet 110/22 KV substation that primarily feeds power to the Sedarapet Industrial Estate and the rural areas of the Northern part of the Puducherry region, the Venkatanagar substation is in the 110/11 KV configuration and will step down power to 11 KV and distribute it through a network of same kilo volt class feeders.
For power managers, the challenge here has more been on capacity addition on the distribution front as the cumulative power demand of about 350MW in the Union Territory, including the enclaves of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam, is comfortably met.
The power allocations mainly come from the Central Generating Stations, drawals from neighbouring State Electricity Boards, the Neyveli Lignite Corporation and the 32MW gas-based power plant run by the Pondicherry Power Corporation Limited — the only power generating unit in the Union Territory.
