Extensive power infra being built for largest Covid-19 facility in Delhi

An extensive infrastructure capable of withstanding an 18-MW load and comprising 22 km of underground cables and 20 transformers will power the Covid-19 quarantine facility of 10,000 beds at the Radha Soami spiritual centre in South Delhi, touted to be the largest in the world, a BRPL spokesperson said on Monday.

The rising number of coronavirus cases in Delhi has necessitated an urgent need to increase hospital beds and isolation facilities. The temporary centre is being set up over a covered area of 12,50,000 square feet, approximately the size of 22 football fields.
 

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia recently assessed the preparations at the centre. Setting-up the power infrastructure at such a massive facility requires an equally massive power infrastructure.

BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) has been tasked to readying the power infrastructure in a record time of 15-days, said the BRPL spokesperson.

Currently, the BRPL spokesperson said, 100 discom personnel and workers are deployed to install the massive infrastructure at the Chhatarpur centre by July 5.

"BRPL has been entrusted to provide an electric load of 18,000 KW. For catering to this massive load requirement, over 100 discom officials and workers are working round-the-clock under the direct supervision of the company' senior leadership team and in close coordination with the government and other departments," he said.
 

BRPL is laying four dedicated 11KV feeders, with a length of around 5 km each totalling around 22 km - using trenchless technology, he said.

"Twenty1,000-KW transformers are being installed for setting up the 20 MVA capacity across the four locations in the premises. The lines being set up at the world's largest Covid-19 facility conform to best international standards and will be remotely controlled from the Supervisory Control and Data Access (SCADA) room at Kalkaji."

For safety reasons, most of the transformers used don't require of oil.

The quarantine centre will get electricity from BSES Fatehpur Beri Grid with sufficient redundancy to ensure power load can be routed through the alternate line if one line trips, he said.
 

Additionally, a Quick Response Team with senior engineers will be stationed at the premises 24x7 to take care of any contingency, he added.