The Hindu : New Delhi News : `Delhi loses power worth Rs. 613 crores to gadgets on standby mode'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 13, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

`Delhi loses power worth Rs. 613 crores to gadgets on standby mode'

Staff Reporter

Experts give tips to consumers to clamp down on power consumption

NEW DELHI: At a time when power supply is not keeping pace with the demand and between 200 MW and 600 MW of shortage is being experienced in the Capital every day, experts believe that there is an urgent need for consumers to clamp down on power consumption.

The idea is to make Delhi meet the rising demand, expected to touch around 3,900 MW this summer.

On how the consumers can contribute to easing Delhi's power crisis, experts insist that people should not keep the gadgets on in the standby mode as a survey has shown that Delhi loses about 175 MW or 25 per cent of electricity produced in Delhi worth Rs 613 crores to gadgets switched off from the remote control.

Also, a lot of power can be saved by replacing the ordinary bulbs with energy efficient CFLs which use 75 per cent less energy.

Then while using air-conditioners, people should set the thermostat at 25 degrees Celsius. At this temperature one feels the chill but it is not extreme.

Defrosting the freezer compartment regularly can also help conserve electricity.

Likewise, turning off the computer, when not in use helps as the monitor uses more than half the energy consumed by the entire system.

Since contrary to popular belief screen savers do not save energy and start-ups and shutdowns do not use extra energy, shutting down a computer, when not in use reduces consumption and also wear and tear.

Another simple way to reduce power consumption is by cleaning the tube lights and bulbs regularly as dirty ones waste up to 50 per cent of the light and consequently more are required to brighten up a place.

Reduce power bills

Experts insist energy saved just by switching off the gadgets from the main switch will alone save 175 MW of power in the Capital, and other simple energy saving tips can further reduce the power consumption as also the power bills of the consumers.

With big malls consuming around 3 MW of power and five-star hotels about 1 MW each, experts say in the days to come with the mushrooming growth of such commercial establishments, the power demand of Delhi is all set to go up substantially.

With the Northern Grid facing a shortage of around 6,000 to 10,000 MW, conservation of power has emerged as the best short-term solution to Delhi's power woes.

Power projects needed

With the demand having reached 3,627 MW on Wednesday and the prospects of the supply scenario rather grim, experts insist in the long run such measures alone will not do and more power projects are needed to cater to the Capital's needs.

They support the argument by stating that precious little has been done to augment power generation in the Capital. There has been no capacity addition to Delhi's power generation since 2003, when the 330 MW Pragati Phase I was added.

While in 2003-04 the demand was 3347 MW as against the supply of 3093 MW, now when the demand is expected to touch 3,900 MW there has not been any addition to Delhi's generation capacity.

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