High load at 12 substations leading to power outages in Gurugram

At least 12 crucial substations of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL) that supply power to a major part of the Gurugram are overloaded, resulting in regular unscheduled and long power cuts, officials said on Thursday.

Officials reported that 66kV substations in Sector 10A, Mehrauli Road, Sectors 2 and 9, Sector 15 Part II, Maruti Vihar, Sector 23A, Sohna, Manesar Industrial Area sectors 2 and 8, and 220kV substations in Sector 56 and Daultabad are being overloaded for the last month, owing to exponentially increased power consumption due to the heatwave. The officials added that they have continuously monitored these substations for the past month so that the feeder could be cut off immediately as the transformers and other equipments were overloaded.

Officials said adding that the power outages to safeguard the grids are therefore commenced late at night till early morning. These outages commence late in the night and last till early morning, officials said.

Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (DHBVNL) superintending engineer (Gurugram Circle I) Shyambir Saini highlighted the severe impact of overloading at the two major 220kV substations. “Even a small fault in these substations causes outages in a large part of the city,” he said. Saini noted that while additional infrastructure is being developed, its completion has been delayed due to the inability to schedule outages necessary for the work.

Upcoming projects to alleviate the overloading issues include a 220kV substation in Sector 15 Part-II and a high-tension transmission line from Panchgaon, Manesar, to Farrukhnagar, said Saini, adding that they can only be completed once temperatures drop during the monsoon.

“We are unable to coordinate power shut-offs with the HVPNL which is delaying the work. The scheduled power cuts for several hours will be required to commission this work, which will make residents suffer amid heatwave, which is why we are not permitting shut-offs,” Saini said.

HVPNL officials said that the transmission line will get rid of power outage issues in Farrukhnagar, Harsaru and neighbouring areas. These areas presently draw power from the overloaded Daultabad substation. While the completion of 220kV substation in Sector 15 Part-II will give relief to Sector-4, New Palam Vihar and other neighbouring areas in Circle-I.

Superintending engineer (Gurugram Circle-II) PK Chauhan said that the Sector 15 Part-II substation relieves several areas, including Sector 30 to Sector 32, Silokhera, and others. Additionally, a 33kV substation for Suncity, drawing power from a 220kV substation in Sector 57, will alleviate overloading in Sector 56.

“This one substation will improve power supply in several parts of the city. It will also preevnt the 66kV substation in Maruti and Mehrauli road from overloading, thereby eliminating the outages in Sector 18, Electronic city, sectors 14 and 17, Old DLF, Prem Nagar and other neighbouring areas as well,” Chauhan said.

Meanwhile, a senior HVPNL official said that to mitigate the overloading issues at the other substations, several augmentation works are being done. “We are installing additional transformers and replacing older ones with higher capacity units. New transmission lines connecting multiple substations are planned, with several expected to be completed by the end of the year. By next year, new substations of 66kV and 220kV will be operational in sectors 99 and 102, Transport Hub in Manesar industrial area as well as other areas, further reducing overloading issues,” he said.

Additionally, the official said that there are plans to construct seven more DHBVN 33kV substations so that the load on 66kV and 220kV substations can be reduced further.

A senior IAS official, posted with the Haryana energy department in Panchkula, noted that the exponentially increased power consumption this summer is an outcome of the unprecedented heatwave. “We had to recalculate our power demand projection, acknowledging the need of purchasing additional power for the state,” he said.