The Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh has unveiled an ambitious plan envisaging investments to the tune of Rs.6,000 crore in the coming years to significantly reduce the transmission and distribution losses.
Accordingly, investments are likely to be made in underground cabling, gas insulated sub-stations, and improvement in the transmission and sub-transmission systems.
The investment plans come in the light of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s direction to the utilities to bring down the technical losses through expeditious implementation of the green energy corridor projects.
Transco Chairman and Managing Director K. Vijayanand, who chaired a review meeting on the ongoing works, said Rs.1,900 crore was invested so far in strengthening the transmission lines.
The utilities could achieve reduction of around 4 per cent of transmission losses in the AP Transco through system strengthening and effective evacuation from the wind power projects.
The T&D losses had been brought down from the projected 13.24 per cent to 10.30 per cent during the first half of the current financial year. Efforts were under way to bring down the losses to less than 10 per cent by putting in place measures like real time energy audit and replacement of defective meters.
Under the wind power transmission scheme envisaging evacuation of 3,150 MW, the first phase of works aimed at evacuation of 2,000 MW with an estimated Rs.2,085.41 crore were on the verge of completion. The Rural Electrification Corporation was funding the works in this regard.
The Central Government had sanctioned Rs.515 crore while the KFW of Germany was providing another Rs. 515 crore. The utilities were in the process of preparation of technical report for setting up extra high voltage sub-station in each district.
In addition, works were under way to set up ring-main around the capital region by setting up 400 kV sub-stations.
The AP Power Generation Corporation (APGenco), on its part, had maintained 80.71 per cent plant load factor for the last one decade and efforts were under way to achieve PLF of 90 per cent.
Mr. Vijayanand said the utilities could secure national recognition in the form of various awards for the efforts to improve the systems.
