Not just people, even substations in Ghaziabad need coolers to function in 40+ heat

The electricity department in Ghaziabad is now installing desert coolers at these substations to keep transformers and other equipment from overheating.

With summer is at its peak, smaller power substations constructed in open areas are getting overloaded, leading to outages.

Twelve substations in trans-Hindon areas have been provided with desert coolers, power discom officials said. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The electricity department in Ghaziabad is now installing desert coolers at these substations to keep transformers and other equipment from overheating.

According to officials of the distribution department, the facility has been provided at 12 of the 34 (33/11kV) distribution substations in trans-Hindon while 32 of 44 substations in cis-Hindon (city) area already have the cooler facility .

“The idea behind installing coolers is to reduce the temperature at substations in order to prevent overloading and overheating. The cool air from the desert coolers keeps transformers and other equipment from overheating. Unlike the bigger transmission substations, which have an auto-cooling facility, the smaller distribution substations don’t have such a provision,” said MC Sharma, superintending engineer, Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited.

“As a result, we have to start installing air coolers directly in front of the equipment at the substations to keep them cool. We hire medium-sized desert coolers till the monsoon,” he said.

The smaller 33/11kV substations often get overheated and have to be shut down. In many substations, the load to various residential areas is connected and that often leads to overloading and power outages. Last year, the trans-Hindon areas faced power cuts ranging up to 7-8 hours a day in different localities.

According to official estimates, with the mercury going north, demand for power has shot up to nearly 800-900 megawatt in Ghaziabad city. Frequent power cuts have been reported due to overloading and local glitches.

“We have asked our officials to arrange for more coolers for substations where the temperature is high and suffer frequent overloading. More coolers will be installed in the coming days,” said SB Yadav, superintending engineer, cis-Hindon area.