Panipat to get country’s first smart grid project today

Mukesh Tandon

Tribune News Service

Panipat, January 24

All preparations have been made for the inauguration of India’s first smart grid project in the city. The project has been established in collaboration with a Japanese company, New Energy Industrial Technology and Development Organisation (NEDO), at the cost of about Rs145 crore. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar along with the Japanese Ambassador to India and Yoshi Peru Sato, executive director of NEDO, would inaugurate it tomorrow.

VS Mann, Superintending Engineer, Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN), said 14 such smart grid projects had been allotted across the country and the first project had been established in Panipat city in collaboration with NEDO.

“The power corporation has selected the city division of the Panipat circle of the UHBVN for the smart grid project initially,” he added. He said the approximate cost of the project was Rs 145 crore and the four feeders of the city division–City No.1, Tehsil camp, conduit and Salarganj feeder—had been selected for smart grid.

“A fully automatic control room has been established at the 33 KV substation at the mini-secretariat. Power supply from its origin to the consumers’ end could be monitored through the control room,” he added.

A team of the UHBVN and the NEDO started work on project in January 2017 and completed it in a year. A number of transformers, 1,300 poles, 11,000 electricity meters removed from the area and cable had been installed. Also, load breaking switches (LBS) had been installed at 22 points in the selected area, he said.

Mann said, “Employees need not visit house to house for meter reading as this could be done in the control room”. Tempering of a meter would be detected immediately and in case of a fault, power supply to a particular area could be cut off without affecting other areas,” he added.

Nearly 11,000 consumers of the four feeders would benefit.