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?Stabilise voltage for smooth supply?
A SENIOR professor of the Electrical Engineering Department at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-K) Dr SC Srivastava has stressed upon the need for stabilising the voltage of power supplied to the consumers.
A SENIOR professor of the Electrical Engineering Department at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-K) Dr SC Srivastava has stressed upon the need for stabilising the voltage of power supplied to the consumers.
Speaking at a five-day short course on “Electric power supply system operation and control: Modern trends and future challenges” at the IIT-K here on Tuesday, Dr Srivastava said for efficient power supply it was necessary that power generation be tuned properly so that the frequent tripping of the power grids could be checked.
He said most of the power plants in the country lacked means to stabilise the power voltage. Fluctuating voltage created difficulties for the consumers and also enhanced the maintenance budget of the power corporation. He said with the production of sophisticated electric gadgets power on constant voltage would be required. In case no efforts were made to check the voltage fluctuations, the country would be out of the global market in the power sector, he said.
Dr Srivastava talked about several technical improvements required at the power grid to ensure constant voltage and to check the grid tripping.
A research scholar Kalyan Kumar discussed the role of the power stabilisers in voltage stability system and said that every power generating unit should install stabilisers. He said very few power generating units used stabilisers as they found it very inconvenient to operate.
Kalyan said power engineers would have to be cautious in tuning the stabilisers according to the change in power demand and its supply. Often in order to avoid this exercise the generation units did not install stabilisers. Consequently, major damages to the plant and supply position were caused, he said.
He cited the case study of a nuclear power plant which proved that in the absence of a stabiliser the efficiency of the plant decreased and lacked the quality. But by installing stabilisers the efficiency of the plant was enhanced, he said.
Dr SN Singh, chief coordinator of the course, spoke about the need fpr restructuring the power system to avoid line losses and to provide better power supply at the competitive and cheaper prices.
Dr Singh said that amidst globalisation of the market it had become obligatory to invite private sector in improving the quality of production and supply. He said serious deliberations should be made to involve private entrepreneurs in the power sector to ensure better and cheap priced power to the consumers.
Dr Singh said that the power sector required de-regulation. He said that the existing power system could not be improved without the participation of the private sector.
