Hydel Projects For Eastern Region Favoured

The eastern region does not have much scope for new thermal power projects. However, independent power projects can be set up in the hydroelectric sector to evolve a better thermo-hydel mix in the region, according to West Bengal power secretary S Barma.

At a seminar on risks in power projects, organised by the Independent Power Producers Association of India in Calcutta yesterday, Barma said the eastern region with surplus generation was different from the other parts of the country, which were power-starved.

However, Barma said the claim of surplus power was dubious. No less than 1 lakh applications are pending at the moment awaiting new connection of power. No more than 77 per cent of the states 38,000 villages have been electrified. But, the definition of village electrification itself is a farce. A village is considered to be electrified if just one household receives power connection. This merely adds to the state electricity boards losses as it is uneconomic to construct distribution lines for just one household in a village, he said.

 

Barma admitted that there had been emphasis on generation alone in Bengal in the last decade while transmission and distribution sectors were largely neglected leading to the present imbalance between generation capacity and the states ability to utilise that capacity.

Generation Projects & Technical Co-ordination chief engineer Amitabha Roychoudhuri expressed reservations about private participation in power transmission. He said there could be serious problems in co-ordination in breaker operation, switching on-off lines, besides creating administrative disharmony.

Balanced regional development of power availability will be hit hard with aggressive and more affluent states taking advantage of the commercial approach, Roychoudhuri said, adding that unbalanced growth in a few isolated affluent pockets will defeat the concept of a national grid for mutual exchange of power.

Roychoudhuri was firm in his view that private participation in transmission should be limited to planning and management of new projects, and maintenance of lines and substations. The ownership and operation of lines must be under either SEBs or Power Grid Corporation.