EPDCL betters SPDCL in building sub-stations in AP

Visakhapatnam: The energy sector in the state has been able to complete installing only 91 33/11kv sub-stations so far against its target of 140 sub-stations in fiscal 2015-16 across the 13 districts including five under the Vizag-based AP Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) and eight under the Tirupati-based AP Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL).

Of the two discoms, APEPDCL constructed 57 sub-stations including around 9 in Visakhapatnam, 4 in Srikakulam, 8 in Vizianagaram, 16 in East Godavari and 20 in West Godavari against its target of 62 in the five coastal districts till date. The other, APSPDCL, completed only 34 sub-stations out of its target 78 for the fiscal.

Speaking to TOI, APEPDCL chairman and managing director R Mutyala Raju said the balance of 5 sub-stations in north coastal region were delayed due to technical reasons including court cases, non-clearance from other departments like the railways in Srikakulam district. However, they will be constructed by the end of this month, he added.

APSPDCL CMD HY Dora told TOI that the balance 44 sub-stations would be completed by the next year and that tenders for the same have already been invited to take up the works for the balance stations.

According to Mutyala Raju, there are two types of sub-stations in the distribution network. While one is an indoor sub-station, the other is called as outdoor sub-station. Indoor sub-stations costs around Rs 2.5 crore each, while the outdoor one is around Rs 1.5 crore each. The outdoor sub-stations require huge land for construction that is less than 50 cents (half acre), while the indoor requires hardly less than 500 square metres. However, of the two, it is the indoor sub-station which is safer. The indoor sub-stations are mostly built in urban areas such as Visakhapatnam. An indoor substation in Visakhapatnam can be seen near the HSBC centre in Siripuram and CMR shopping mall.

"As Visakhapatnam is a happening city and availability of land is tough, we prefer indoor substations. We have estimated a requirement of around Rs 89 crore to complete all 62 sub-stations in our discom limits for the year. Our aim is to reach 1,000 sub-stations in the next three years keeping in view the increasing demand for electricity in the near future. Currently, we have 702 sub-stations within discom limits," Mutyala Raju said.

Dora said the main benefits with the augmentation of the sub-stations would be cessation of power supply interruptions. "People will get uninterrupted quality power with the increase of the sub-stations in the distribution network," Dora said.

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