SHILLONG: Meghalaya, which faces acute power crisis, is strengthening its transmission sector by expanding through various schemes, including the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project, Power minister Comingone Ymbon said on Wednesday.
Addressing a gathering at the 18th North Eastern Regional Power Committee (NERPC) Meeting at the State Convention Centre, Ymbon said difficulties faced by the North East Transmission Company and Power Grid in maintaining the 400-KV D/C Palatana-Silchar line is a cause for concern.
“This is the only highway for evacuation of power from the 726 MW OTPC, Palatana gas-based power plant of the North Eastern Grid and export to other parts of the country as well,” he said and added that any outage of this transmission line will not only lead to constrained evacuation of generated power but also acute crisis in the region.
“Therefore, continuous and unhindered maintenance is of utmost importance for averting any outage of the transmission line and consequential power interruption,” he added.
Ymbon informed that the present generation capacity of Meghalaya is 354.7 MW with an addition of 40 MW after the recent commissioning and declaration of commercial operation on July 1 of the New Umtru Hydro Electric Project.
Power demand in Meghalaya is primarily met from the state-owned generating company, Meghalaya Power Generation Corporation Limited. The state is also planning to develop two solar power parks of 10 MW each. Two hydro projects at Ganol and Lakroh are already underway.
Survey and investigation are being carried out for 22 hydro electric projects, including 16 small projects.
Ymbon said the North East is endowed with abundant resources for development of power, especially hydro potential, but most of these remain untapped.
“We must all urge the Government of India to give special focus on the development of power sector in the region,” the minister told the representatives at the meeting organised under the aegis of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited.
Crisis in the region
Ymbon took the opportunity to voice his concern about the power scenario of other states in the region.
“The northeastern region is facing some low voltages in several pockets and to address the problems, capacitor bank installation has to be put in place,” he said.
Pointing out that detailed project reports of Mizoram and Nagaland for the above scheme have been given low priority, he urged the states to take up the issue with the Central Electricity Authority and the Ministry of Power.
Turning to Tripura, he said the low voltage problem in the state is also a serious matter and there is a need for immediate action and funding from the Power System Development Fund (PSDF) is to be made available for the region.
Ymbon also urged the Technical Coordination Committee to endorse the proposal to review the funding norm under PSDF to facilitate expeditious execution of schemes.
He also spoke of the importance of having skilled manpower with regard to construction activities of power house, transmission lines, and sub-stations as these are being carried out by skilled people of other regions.
Stating that it is an area of job creation for the people of the region, Ymbon said, “NERPC secretariat is requested to look into the matter and explore the possibilities to provide relevant skills to the unemployed youth of the region so that these job opportunities can be given to the youths.”