Outage-hit city seeks to stay off grid

The Union government has agreed to consider Delhis proposal to delink the citys power supply from a transmission grid that is connected to a common network for several states,Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Monday.

The Union government has agreed to consider Delhis proposal to delink the citys power supply from a transmission grid that is connected to a common network for several states,Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Monday.

We need to create a supply island for Delhi so that it is insulated from collective failures. We have requested the power ministry to work on this suggestion and they agreed that such a system must be put in place, Dikshit said after a meeting with Union Power Minister Veerappa Moily and chief ministers of all states connected to the Northern Grid,which tripped twice this month.

Dikshit said Delhi cannot afford such blackouts and the Power ministry has assured her government it will soon begin work on the proposal.

She said Delhi being the national Capital must receive uninterrupted power supply. All VVIPs and diplomats are here,the countrys top offices are here and we have sensitive installations. It is important for the city to get uninterrupted power, she said.

Technical problems in the Northern Grid will not affect Delhi if it can draw electricity from independent stations,instead of relying on the grid for multiple states.

The city requires more than 5,000 MW during peak hours,while it has a power generation capacity of around 1,200 MW. Power department officials said once the 1,500 MW Bawana power plant starts functioning at its optimum level,the city can be in a position to pull out of the grid and draw the extra requirement from independent units.

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