APSPDCL to invest Rs 500cr a year to trim AT&C losses

The Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APSPDCL) is planning to invest around Rs 500 crore every year to bring down the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses to 10 per cent in the next two-three years, from the present 15 per cent.

Speaking to Business Standard on the sidelines of ‘Power Conference 2009’, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, A Venkata Reddy, director (finance and IT), APSPDCL, said the company had brought down its AT&C losses to 15 per cent (10 per cent due to technical and 5 per cent commercial including theft) from 25-30 per cent four years ago.

“The company has now set a target of bringing down the losses to 10 per cent over the next two to three years. This will be achieved by investing Rs 500 crore every year for purchasing additional transformers and expanding networks,” Reddy said.

The proposed investment will primarily be into installing high-voltage distribution systems (HVDS). The country’s AT&C average loss is 30 per cent.

APSPDCL had managed to bring down the AT&C loss by installing high-accuracy meters (HAMs). Andhra Pradesh has 6 million consumers (4 million in rural and 2 million in urban areas). “Currently, urban consumers are converted to HAMs and we will try to bring rural customers under the HAM umbrella going forward,” Reddy added.

The company is also in the process of installing (HVDS) across Chittoor and Kadapa districts. Other districts including Guntur, Ongole and Nellore will be covered in a phased manner. These districts will be converted from low-tension to HVDS.

The number of substations will also be increased from 1,000 to 1,300 in the next two to three years. Similarly, more conductors and low-capacity distribution transformers (DTRs) with a capacity of 25KVA and 16 KVA will be added, Reddy said. “Our target is to have one transformer for every 3-4 consumers.”