Power corp on job to improve infrastructure, electricity woes of Muzaffarpur residents to end soon

Electricity woes of Muzaffarpur residents will end within five to six days once new conductors are installed between the Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station (MTPS) and Bhikhanapura grid substation. “People will have to bear with us till then,” Bihar State Power Transmission Company Limited (BSPTCL) managing director Sanjay Kumar Singh told Vithika Salomi in an interview. Excerpts:

Why is Muzaffarpur facing arguably the worst ever power crisis?

BSPTCL is installing new conductors of higher capacity, in place of existing conductors that are over 50 years old, in one of the two circuits between MTPS and Bhikhanapura grid substation, hence the crisis. Major work has been done, but special permission is required to replace the conductors on the MTPS premises, those over a railway line and those on the national highway (NH). MTPS and NH work will be complete by the weekend after which power trouble in Muzaffarpur will reduce considerably.

How will the new conductors help?

Once the conductors are replaced in both the circuits, the circuits’ capacity to carry power will increase from 100MW to about 140-150MW. The capacity will be enhanced up to 110-120MW within the next six days. The quality of power will then be better in terms of higher voltage and lesser breakdowns. But, the reconducting work will take time and people will have to bear with us. A new 50 mega volt ampere will be added to the Bhikhanapura grid substation by year end to cater to the increasing demand.

Are conductors being replaced elsewhere too in the state?

Re-conducting work has been done in over 190 circuit kilometre (CKm) in the state since March 2013 while 1,080 CKm new lines have been laid since then, taking the total circuit length to 7,000 CKm in Bihar. BSPTCL is also installing transformers of increased capacity at several grid substations. While the charging of the new transformer is complete at Saharsa, Gopalganj and Motihari, work is underway at Chhapra, Bettiah, Nawada, Sitamarhi, Bihta, Ara, Jamalpur and Khagaul.

Will people face energy troubles while new conductors or transformers are installed?

There may be power cuts when new conductors or transformers are installed to improve the energy infrastructure in the state. But that’s a short-term problem for a long term benefit. However, I can only speak of the transmission lines which are 132kV or above. The 11kV and 33kV lines are distribution lines, but our combined aim is to provide uninterrupted power to the consumer.

A Muzaffarpur consumer, Jai Mangal Roy, has written to TOI that franchisee Essel Vidyut Vitaran Muzaffarpur Limited hasn’t metered his four connections since October and isn’t registering snag complaints either. What does the energy department do about such complaints?

Please give me a copy of the letter. We will look into the matter and see what the issue is and what can be done to resolve it.

Any plans to improve the transmission aspect of energy sector?

We want basic change in the transmission infrastructure by making the grid substations ‘N-1’ compliant. Under this, the grid substations will have an extra transformer to keep the grid functional even if one transformer conks out. Provisions are also being made for multiple power sourcing and multiple circuits.

Courtesy: TNN