The Hindu : New Delhi News : NDPL tie-up to boost power supply

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 29, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

NDPL tie-up to boost power supply

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 28. In association with the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the North Delhi Power Limited has embarked upon an action plan to introduce high-tech automated systems for its entire distribution network in North and North-West Delhi.

It would facilitate remote-controlled operation of its network, a faster fault management system, reduction of losses and theft and enhanced consumer comfort through reduction of time for various processes, claimed the NDPL chief executive officer, Anil Sardana.

"The project is designed to optimise operations of NDPL's distribution system and will further add to reliability and quality of power supply in North and North-West Delhi," he said.

Mr. Sardana said the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, under an agreement with the NDPL, would provide grant assistance of over Rs. 2 crores -- 4.6 lakh dollars -- to fund `technical assistance' for the Distribution Automation Project. The agreement was signed here on Monday. "We have selected KEMA, Inc., a U.S. firm with extensive experience working with distribution utilities in United States and overseas, to provide the technical assistance," he said.

With the automation of the entire distribution networks, Mr. Sardana claimed, the entire area of NDPL would experience an uninterrupted and quality power supply as hi-tech systems not only help in speedy fault restoration but also do predictive analysis of faults.

"The system once implemented, will also detect power pilferage and identify theft prone consumers and areas on the North Delhi map which will help us bring down commercial losses," he said.

Under the project, the NDPL plans to implement a variety of distribution automation systems, including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, which would facilitate remote-controlled operations of its network from a central location, the Geographical Information System (GIS) and Outage and Trouble Call Management System to ensure faster restoration of faults and simplification of processes.

Today, the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems are being used by utilities across the world to deliver power in a reliable and safe manner. "The system connected via fibre optic cables helps in efficient designing, planning, monitoring and control of the network electronically from remote locations," he said.

The Geographic Information Systems stores and maps detailed information, which helps in immediate location of the fault and prompt dispatch of crews, thus reducing time of restoration. "We have has already mapped three districts covering 30 per cent of its area. The Outage Management Systems will enable the discom to restore faults (tripped circuit breakers and other outages) automatically, remotely from a central location," Mr. Sardana said.

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