Karnataka - Bangalore

`Cable technology will help reduce T&D losses'

Staff Reporter

Cables available are exorbitantly priced, says De

IN CONVERSATION: M.K. De, Chairman of the West Bengal State Electricity Board; A.K. Tripathy, Director General of the Central Power Research Institute; and A. Sudhindra, Joint Director of the CPRI, at the inauguration of a seminar on `Power cable tec hnology' in Bangalore on Thursday. — Photo: K. Gopinathan

Bangalore: "We are not in a position to adopt cable technology to cut transmission and distribution (T&D) losses because of the high cable cost and miniscule number of cable manufacturers in India," M.K. De, Chairman, West Bengal State Electricity Board, has said.

He was speaking after inaugurating a two-day seminar on power cable technology here on Thursday, organised by the Central Power Research Institute.

"It will take time to adopt cable technology and for it to become operational owing to the prohibitive costs of cable," he said.

The country incurred high transmission and distribution losses, almost 0.8 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which was estimated to be around Rs. 25,000 crore a year.

"We have to take steps to curb transmission and distribution losses and power theft. With cable technology, we will be able to improve power distribution," he said.

He called for development of high quality and low cost cables. "The cables that are available in the market are exorbitantly priced and are of low quality," he said.

Power shortage in the country was seven to eight per cent of the total demand, while the peak demand shortage was 12 per cent. "If the shortage is overcome by power generation, we have to ensure that it is not lost while it is being transmitted or distributed," he said.

Mr. De said there was neither a policy on cable technology, nor separate funding or department for it. "Cable technology needs attention and we need to treat it as a distinct field," he said.

"The underground cabling system should be mapped so that we have a better understanding of networking," he said.

He said West Bengal would become a power surplus State by December 2007. Several projects with a capacity of 2,470 MW were nearing completion in that State. From March 2007, West Bengal would add 1,570 MW of power by increasing thermal generating capacity and putting up the Pump Storage Project. The Pump Storage Project was used when the demand for power to pump water was low. It will be released in the evening when the demand was more.

Four stations of 225 MW each would be established and by the end of 2007, West Bengal would have surplus power of 1,000 MW during peak hour and off-season, he said.

Nearly 120 delegates from across the country and abroad are participating in the seminar.

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