THE STATE Capital is witnessing a record rise in electricity load with new residential colonies, shopping malls, and commercial complexes coming up in every part.
LESA is now finding ‘load management’ difficult to handle and has requested the Public Works Department (PWD) to make a provision for ‘service corridors’ along the roads for laying cables, etc.
Three major developers, Sahara, Ansals and Arif Industries, have applied for collective power load of around 2 lakh KW, over 16 per cent of LESA’s total around 11 lakh KW load reached so far in the last several decades.
Ansals has applied for 156 MVA (1,56000 KW) of electricity load for its Hi-Tech City coming up at Sultanpur Road, while Sahara wants 30 MVA (30,000 KW) of power load for its proposed project on Sitapur Road. Likewise, the Arif Industries is waiting for 60,000 KW load to be sanctioned for its Metro City being set up near the Paper Mill Colony.
LESA is processing applications and is likely to sanction the demanded load soon.
Besides, other builders, including Parsvnath, Plummeria and Omaxe too are expected to apply for sanction of huge power load for huge residential projects in Gomti Nagar and elsewhere.
In the first six months of the current financial year, the LESA has sanctioned/released around 25000 KW of load for connections of more than 75 KW. Prominent ones are Eldeco’s E-City, Gomti Nagar (6455 KW) Amrapali Green Apartment, Kanpur Road (390 KW), Sahara India Commercial Corporation, Saharaganj (6422 KW), Sahara India Medical Institute, Gomti Nagar (7075 KW) Merry Gold Developers, Rosewood Apartment, Kabir Marg, (400 KW), Fortuna Foundation, Birbal Sahani Marg (585 KW), and Garrison Engineers, Cantt Road (4500 KW).
{{/usCountry}}In the first six months of the current financial year, the LESA has sanctioned/released around 25000 KW of load for connections of more than 75 KW. Prominent ones are Eldeco’s E-City, Gomti Nagar (6455 KW) Amrapali Green Apartment, Kanpur Road (390 KW), Sahara India Commercial Corporation, Saharaganj (6422 KW), Sahara India Medical Institute, Gomti Nagar (7075 KW) Merry Gold Developers, Rosewood Apartment, Kabir Marg, (400 KW), Fortuna Foundation, Birbal Sahani Marg (585 KW), and Garrison Engineers, Cantt Road (4500 KW).
{{/usCountry}}Demand for power in Lucknow is around 500 MW, higher than in any other city of the State. Once the 2 lakh KW of load demanded by Sahara, Ansals and Arif Industries is released, the city will require an additional 200 MW of power supply.
But supply is not a problem as the UPPCL has to provide electricity to the State Capital which is exempted from rostering.
And all this is posing a challenge to LESA in terms of providing infrastructure to the big consumers.
“Our problem is how and where to lay cables and make sub-stations,” said LESA General Manager, AK Singh. “We will have to make one 132 kva and at least five 33 kva sub-stations for the Ansals’ Sultanpur Road colony alone,” he added.
LESA has written a letter to the PWD requesting it to provide for at least two-meter wide service corridors on both sides of the roads so that the pace could be used for electricity/telephone cables and water pipes. It has also suggested that hume pipes be laid at a 200-300 meter distance from the roads so that cables, etc could be passed through them obviating the need of digging roads.
It demanded that the cost that incurred on the shifting of transformers, cables, and poles during road-widening be included the road widening cost itself.
Interestingly, though LESA is finding load management difficult, it is elated as big consumers mean more revenue without much effort. “Of the total around Rs 60 crore revenue, we get Rs 20 crore from big consumers with power connections of 100 kw and above,” the GM pointed out.