Power cuts: Plan panel backs Dikshit on 'islanding facility'

The support to the demand by Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia came when Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit raised the issue with him during a meeting.

"Ahluwalia supported Delhi's demand for setting up an islanding facility on the lines of similar arrangement in south Mumbai," a senior official present in the meeting said.

If islanding facility is set up, then Delhi, in case of technical problem in the Northern Grid, will be able to draw power directly from selected power generating stations by cutting its transmission network with the grid.

Following last month's grid failure which seriously affected normal life in Delhi, Dikshit has been strongly advocating setting up of islanding facility to insulate essential services from any disruption in power supply.

Officials in Delhi Power Department said the city currently has a generation capacity of around 1200 MW and once the 1,500 MW capacity Bawana power plant starts functioning at its optimum level, the city can easily put in place the islanding facility.

Last week, Dikshit had raised the issue in a meeting of chief ministers of northern states chaired by Union Power Minister M Veerappa Moily. Delhi Government had blamed Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan for overdrawing power, saying it led to collapse of the Northern Grid.

In her meeting with Ahluwalia, Dikshit also raised the issue of supply of natural gas to Bawana power plant built by the city government at a cost of Rs 4,500 crore. The plant has not been able to produce power at optimum level due to scarcity of gas.

She sought wanted assured allocation of gas to a number of new power plants proposed by the city government. The new power plants have been envisaged to increase the power generation capacity of Delhi from 2232 MW at present to 4730 MW by the end of 12th Five Year Plan, said an official.