PANAJI
One of the major concerns which came to light during the public hearing conducted by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission to scrutinise the power tariff petition is the catch-22 kind of situation in which the Goa Electricity Department (GED) operates — functioning as a government department while carrying out a purely commercial operation of buying, distributing and selling power.
Chief Electrical Engineer (CEE) Stephen Fernandes, while speaking to The Goan, admitted that this is an 'anomaly' and it would be his endeavour to streamline systems within the department and improve functional efficiency, especially among its workforce.
For starters, Fernandes is seriously considering a proposal for a corporate entity-styled accounting system, where assets of the department are accounted for, and the business-like side of the department's operations. Introducing a double-entry accounting system is crucial, he agreed.
Another issue that Fernandes, who has private power industry experience under his belt before taking over as CEE a few years ago, is focusing on is micro-managing the power supply operations during peak hours.
Goa's peak power demand is on the rise constantly and hit a new high in April last year at 815 MW — much higher than the availability — when Goa had to resort to short-term power buying from the open market.
Fernandes has got the department's top team to explore Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and other demand management strategies to address the peak-time shortfalls, which often range between 120–150 megawatts.
Fernandes said he also intends to heed the advice of Goa's industry representatives, who have called for greater transparency in planning the capital expenditure on infrastructure, which the CEE has pegged at Rs 6,000 crore in the five-year business plan. He said the suggestion that district planning committees take on board representatives of different categories of consumers, including industrial, is on the cards.
