JBVNL struggles with technical snags as power demands peak

RANCHI: Power supply to residential areas in Ranchi were restored on Wednesday morning after Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited’s (JBVNL) engineers and technicians repaired a snag in a transformer at the Hatia grid after 27 hours.
“The Hatia grid has three 150 MVA power transformers. A protective equipment called CT, which was fitted to one of the transformers, developed a snag.Due to this technical glitch, power transmission from the grid remained affected on Tuesday,” PK Srivastava, general manager of JBVNL Ranchi, told TOI on Wednesday.
“It took 27 hours to fix the snag and supply from the grid was restored in the early hours of Wednesday,” Srivastava said. Srivastava said Ranchi currently requires 320 MW power during the peak hours of the summer season. “So far, Ranchi’s grids are receiving its full load,” he added. JBVNL officials said Jharkhand on a whole is requiring 2,800 MW of electricity during the peak hours.
The officials said the state-run discom is struggling with several technical issues which are hindering its efforts to provide seamless power to its command areas. “Since mid-April, Jharkhand’s weather has become unpredictable. We usually evaluate the power needs of the state and procure additional power from the Indian Energy Exchange and Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL) a day in advance.
The ups and downs in weather is posing problems when it comes to estimating the possible shortfall and bidding in advance,” a senior JBVNL official said. “There is the issue of overloading in the grids of PGCIL (Power Grid Corporation of India Limited) and they force us to reduce the power demand in Ranchi and Jamshedpur (by load shedding).
KK Verma, JBVNL MD, did not respond to TOI's calls when contacted.