APEPDCL registers lowest transmission loss in country

Three north-coastal districts has registered the lowest losses at 8.4 per cent, as against the country's average of 30 per cent.

The Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Ltd (APEPDCL) — operating in the three north-coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam besides East Godavari — has registered the lowest power transmission and distribution losses in the country, at 8.4 per cent, as against the country's average of 30 per cent, according to Mr H.Y. Dora, Director, Operations.


Mr Dora was speaking at a seminar on energy efficiency organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency here on Friday.
He said the APEPDCL was taking steps to improve energy conservation and efficiency and to educate the general public.


It had distributed six lakh CFL lamps in Visakhapatnam district and had taken up a pilot project in East Godavari district to replace agricultural pump-sets and pipes to improve energy efficiency.
Stress on efficiency


He said there was a huge demand-supply gap in the power sector and adding capacity would only solve part of the problem as it could never match a rise in demand.
Therefore, energy conservation and efficiency should be stressed.


Mr Rajeev Kumar Yadav, the project economist of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, outlined the steps being taken to promote awareness about energy efficiency and to reduce the energy intensity of the Indian economy.
Small and Medium Enterprises


He urged the small and medium enterprises in particular to focus on the aspect.
The use of obsolete technologies and low energy productivity were the main problems of the SME sector in India.
The lack of common infrastructure and institutional finance were compounding the problem.
Energy efficient steps


He said the Bureau of Energy Efficiency had identified 30 clusters of SMEs in different sectors to promote energy efficiency in the country.


In Andhra Pradesh too the programme was being implemented in the two Godavari districts (refractory cluster), Bhimavaram in West Godavari (ice-making) and Warangal (rice milling).
The bureau was helping units in these clusters implement energy-efficient steps and arrange institutional finance for the purpose.


Capt. Sriram Ravichander, the Chairman of the Vizag zone of the CII, said the industry should focus on the vital aspect.
The Vice-Chairman, Mr R.V.S. Raju, also spoke.

Uttarakhand approves open access system for industries

Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) has given its go ahead to the open access system under which power can be purchased from any power distribution company in the country.With the industrial output being affected due to 10 to 12 hour long power cut, few industries had approached the UERC to buy power from other than the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) under the open access system. UERC had already approved terms and conditions for open access. However, the state did not witness any single case for open access during the past few years.

But this year, some industries approached the commission and sought permission to purchase power from outside the state.

The hallmark of the open access is that consumers will not (not) have to pay the transmission charges, wheeling charges, cross subsidy and additional charges if they purchase electricity during the load-shedding period, said UERC Chairman V J Talwar. "So far, nearly 10-12 industries like La Opala and Greenply have approached us," said Talwar.

Under the new system, open access has been permitted to any consumer which is connected to distribution system of UPCL at 11 KVA and above.

The access has been divided in three broader categories viz short term ranging from the day to one month, medium term open access ranging from 3 months to 3 years and long term ranging from 12 years to 25 years.

All open access customers would have to bear average transmission losses as specified in the tariff orders from time to time.