Soon, city will get more power

Delhi’s 1,500 MW Bawana power plant, which has been in construction for a few years will finally start commercial power generation by June end, power minister Haroon Yusuf said on Tuesday, while announcing Delhi Transco becoming an ISO 9001: 2008 utility.

Delhi’s 1,500 MW Bawana power plant, which has been in construction for a few years will finally start commercial power generation by June end, power minister Haroon Yusuf said on Tuesday, while announcing Delhi Transco becoming an ISO 9001: 2008 utility.

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This will give Delhi a leap towards self-sustainability in power requirement. Only 10% of the power is meant for outside Delhi, while the rest is to be directed to the demands of Delhi’s own distribution companies who have all signed power purchase agreements, he said.

“The fuel for the plant has been arranged. This will be a big milestone for Delhi,” he told reporters.

Delhi government’s Pragati Power Corporation Limited is about get the required gas from the Krishna Godavari Basin, officials said. The power plant, already inordinately delayed by months in commissioning, has been running in “open cycle” as a pilot basis, wherein the steam was not being reused to generate power to the full capacity. This process produces less power and makes it much costlier — a reason why discoms were not keen on this source all this while.

Yusuf said the substation was ready and would be in use.

“Transco has taken all necessary clearances and will be putting it to use soon. This will make power supply much stabilized in south Delhi areas,” he said.

The substation will make supply better in Vasant Kunj, Okhla, Badarpur and nearby areas.

Painting a rosy picture for the remaining summer months, Yusuf said there was no dearth of power in the system. “Discoms have been asked to make sure that local faults are minimum and are attended to promptly, so that there is no inconvenience to the people,” he added.