PANAJI
The State of Goa is constantly facing power issues and is struggling to find ways to come up with practical, feasible and technical solutions. One must take into consideration that the department of Electricity was founded in 1963 and is turning 60 this year, which naturally points out for infrastructure up-gradation to run smoothly. Blaming the department or the minister that holds the power portfolio will not solve the power outage issue, unless firm, positive steps are taken to strengthen the basic infrastructure.
So what comes under power infrastructure and how this could be upgraded? No one would deny that the generation of electricity in Goa is almost nil and the State has to beg, buy or borrow electricity from other States to fulfil the domestic requirement. However, only purchasing electricity from others and supplying it to the local population is not enough, as the infrastructure through which it is transmitted should be strong enough to carry the load, otherwise power tripping would happen.
Explaining how the infrastructure works, chief electrical engineer from the department of Electricity, Stephen Fernandes stated that the infrastructure starts from the source which is the generator that produces electricity and is transmitted.
Adding further he said, “For this we need extra high voltage 400KV to 220 KV level transmission towers and transmission lines. There are Extra High Voltage (EHV) substations. The voltage that is used for domestic purpose is 415 or 230 Volts, single phase or three-phase and the industrial supply is 11 KV and 33 KV. So from 400 KV we have to make it into 220 KV based on the voltage and the load and for this we need intra-transmission network or intra-state-lines that pass through Goa. The high voltage lines are 220 KV and some are 110 KV, which is called sub-transmission network. We need distribution substation, 33/11 KV and thereafter we need 33 KV and 11 KV lines that go through sub-station. Finally we need distribution transformer centres to step down to 415 volts, up to the end user.”
The consumers, commercial and domestic get electricity supply after the process goes through all of these. Highlighting that the department is working for the consumers, the electrical engineer pointed out at the population growth and the per capita consumption of power and how electricity is crucial in everyday life.
“Today, everybody needs power. If power trips for a single minute, the department starts receiving calls from the consumers. Electricity department is crucial and power is a necessary commodity, required by the industry to run businesses and also by the domestic consumers. We have to serve the consumers and satisfy their demands. But we have our own problems, and we need to know how to deliver to make the consumers happy,” said the CEE.
The department has to upgrade its website so that consumes are aware of the plans and the working. The electricity department has taken a decision to work on a state-of-the-art website that is user-friendly and up-to-date. “All can’t come to us with their complaints or inquiries. For them, visiting the website to know our future projects and short/medium or long term plans and also our issues, will provide all the necessary information,” feels Fernandes.
Asked if the TAMNAR project would solve the power shortage in future, the CEE was affirmative, but he also reminded that the project would take some more time to reach completion. If one recalls, the TAMNAR work order was issued in 2017, and Fernandes had assumed during the discussion that time, that it would take at least seven years to complete. Five years down the line, we have still not completed 50% of the project. This happened due to various reasons, and the opposition that this project had to face. Usually, for such projects it should take two-and-a-half to three years to complete. But unfortunately, there was a delay, for the initiation, but now the company would take another 18-20 months. There are procedures to follow, opposition from the public delayed the project, and getting approvals is a tedious process.
