The weather has become cold in Jammu transiting through a phase of being very pleasant. However, has the power position in Jammu improved? The answer is yes & no – both. Yes, if it doesn’t rain or get mildly windy; no, if it rains mildly, or gets mildly windy.

So there you are – if it is hot, electricity fails & if it is mildly rainy or windy it still fails. A few weeks back it took more than 24 hrs for restoration of electricity in several parts of Jammu area when it had failed after mild rain & equally mild windy conditions.

But this was not what Jammu Power Distribution Corporation said when the consumers complained of abysmally low voltages (80 volts & less against standard voltage of 220 volts), intermittent fluctuations/swings in the voltage & power breakdowns during the summer months at consumer end this year. They said that the situation will improve after temperatures come down & that it was bad only because of the “severe heat conditions in the ongoing summer season” which had “pushed the power demand up” resulting in “increased temperature of the power transformers beyond limits.” As if Jammu is the only place on earth where temperatures soar & thus power woes are naturally to be borne by the consumers.

A peep into the power infrastructure in Jammu is revealing. The malice is much deeper & encompasses transmission as well as distribution component of the power sector.

Infirm power distribution network:

When I started looking around out of curiosity, I came across very interesting real time data for 09.09.2020 at 21:26:51 Hrs that is tabulated below:

S. No.	Name of Interstate Feeder	Megawatt (Import/Export)	MVAR (Import/Export)
1.	400KV Moga-Kishanpur feeder 1	150	(- )102
2.	400KV Moga-Kishanpur feeder 2	144	(-)105
3.	400KV Chamer2 – Kishanpur	(-)43	(-)33
4.	400KV Jallandhar-Samba 1	152	21
5.	400KV Jallandhar-Samba 2	154	20
6.	220KV Sarna-Kishanpur 1	113	(-)15
7.	220KV Sarna-Kishanpur 2	113	(-)13
8.	220KV Sarna_Udhampur	71	(-)04
9.	220KV Sarna-Hiranagar	(-)178	(-)83
	Total Import/Export	675	(-)314

Now what do these figures tell? They actually reveal a tale of technical infirmity of power system in Jammu region. The data suggests that J&K was exporting 675 megawatts of “real power” on its interstate transmission lines while it was importing 314 MVAR of “reactive power” at that moment. Since power system is a dynamic system as such this data can vary over time & also loading conditions of the network. This kind of situation arises in Jammu because of the air-conditioning load during summer months. What will make this data more interesting is that 314 MVAR of reactive power is almost the capacity of the 220/132 KV Burn substation in Megawatt terms; which effectively means that the capacity of almost Burn substation was being lost to technical infirmities in the power system network.

If an analogy is drawn with the human heart, the “active power” may be considered to be the good cholesterol & “reactive power” the bad cholesterol. Like the bad cholesterol impacts the heart of a human body adversely so does the “reactive power”. This component of power has an adverse impact on the “system voltage” of an electric supply network – be it transmission or distribution.

The question that can be asked is that isn’t the state electricity utility aware of what is required to be done to ameliorate this situation? The answer is yes – they know it.

It must be mentioned that Northern Region Power Committee (NRPC) / Technical Coordination Committee (TCC) which are the empowered committees under Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for coordination, planning & implementation of various projects & gives solution to technical issues that may arise during operation of the power systems in the Northern Region of the country mentions in Para B.3.4, B.3.7 & B.3.8 of the minutes of the meeting dated 14.07.2017 that the J&K PDD was requested to install 1102 MVAR capacity capacitor banks as per the “study carried out by Central Power Research Institute (CPRI).” J&KPDD was also informed in the meeting that this will be one step towards ameliorating the low voltage problem of the distribution network. It was also made clear to J&KPDD that the network would also require comprehensive system strengthening.

Well, what has been done till now?

It is understood that based on the recommendations of the NRPC/TCC/CPRI capacitor banks have been installed in around 10 of the 33 KV substations in Jammu region. However these capacitor banks are non-functional!! Whether the capacitor banks that have been installed have a capacity of 1102 MVAR; I am not very sure. In any case what is the use of these capacitor banks if they are non-operational?

Another very important issue that has come to light is that the transformers in the 33 KV sub stations, where the capacitor banks have been installed, don’t have parallel operation of the installed transformers. What good will it do to improve the “quality of power” if the capacitor banks have been installed but the transformers are not operated in parallel?

In any case the best practice the world over is to operate transformers in parallel (irrespective of whether capacitor banks are installed or not) in a substation for maximum efficiency, system redundancy & reliability. The question that why this practice is not followed in Jammu region, begs an answer. In Kashmir region this is a normal practice!

Strengthening transmission network in Rajouri/Poonch Districts:

In later part of 2011 I was assigned the task of completing the construction of the 400 KV Wagoora to Uri-2 Transmission line & Uri-1 to Uri-2 interconnector, by POWERGRID. During the construction of the line I & Mr. Kamal Sarkar from POWERGRID Corporate Center (who has now retired) were pained to see the abysmally low voltage at the consumer end in & around Uri. As it was winter the lamps dimly glowing because of low voltage were adding to the gloom caused by the cold weather. We thought it was outrageous as the residents of Uri & surrounding areas were not receiving quality power while the 720 MW capacity power projects located in their area were feeding “quality power” to the state / national grid. We also had experienced similar situation in Kishtwar where Dul Hasti project is located & was feeding 390 MW of power to the grid. In fact the power position in the erstwhile Doda District was found to be similar to what we saw in Uri. We raised the issue at appropriate levels in the state & central governments through POWERGRID (our parent organization which is also a Central Transmission Utility) which triggered a process of identifying solution to the problem. The J&KPDD had an important role to play at the NRPC/TCC forums as it was within their ambit to push for the new elements to be added into the power system of the state with POWERGRID extending a handholding in its capacity as a CTU. 

J&KPDD did push the issue & this resulted in strengthening of power transmission network for District Baramulla, of which Uri is a part. For this purpose a 400 KV Jallandhar – Samba – Amargarh (Baramulla) transmission line was got sanctioned from NRPC/TCC. The line was constructed & put into commercial operation on 01.01.2012.

The route for this line from Samba was approved to be passing through the Districts of Rajouri & Poonch with the understanding that a 400 KV substation would be constructed in any one of these two Districts based upon techno-economic survey. However, nothing to the effect has been done till date. The proposed substation in Rajouri/Poonch would not only have strengthened power transmission & distribution in these two Districts but also have relieved the already overloaded 220/132 KV Barn substation of J&K PDD from a part of the load being fed to Rajouri, Poonch on 132 KV lines thereby resulting in improved reliability in power supply position in areas such as Kot Balwal, Damana, Reasi, Akhnoor & Jourian etc.

Transmission to 220/132 KV Barn substation in turn could have been strengthened by providing a 220 KV link to the proposed 400/220 KV substation at Rajouri/Poonch thereby enhancing the reliability of power supply to consumers in Akhnoor, Jourian, Kot Balwal, Reasi & Poonch/Rajouri areas.

This part of the network has almost been forgotten.

Strengthening of Transmission network in erstwhile Doda District:

Looking at the transmission / distribution network of Jammu province one realizes that one of the worst placed are the Districts of Kishtwar & Doda. While two robust 400 KV Transmission lines wheel out power from the 390 MW Dulhasti Project to the Northern Grid but only one 132 KV transmission line of 1985/86 vintage wheels power back to this area from 220/132 KV Udhampur substation of J&KPDD for distribution to consumers. This line was constructed by NHPC to meet its power demand for construction of for Dulhasti power Project. In present times whenever this line breaks down because of snowfall during winter months or for any other reason the consumers in Kishtwar & adjoining areas are left without electricity for weeks on end. To be fair, the former minister & MLA of Inderwal, Mr GM Saroori; tried to get the system augmented so that the people of the area could be relieved of the hardships but nothing came out of it though he wrote & also met the then CM of the state Mr Omar Abdullah with a couple of technical proposals.

The way in which power sector has been neglected in erstwhile Doda District can be seen from the fact that the 132 KV line from Ramban to Khelani has almost been forgotten by J&KPDD though construction of it was started around 12 years back.

What is more startling is that transmission system approved by NRPC/TCC (minutes of meeting dated 20.11.2020) for evacuation of power from the upcoming hydropower projects viz Pakaldul (1000 MW), Kiru (624 MW) & Kwar (540 MW) doesn’t have any provision for wheeling power on the presently available 132 KV level network to the erstwhile Doda District. The proposed Transmission Line network on the website of J&KPDD (updated on 07.09.2020) doesn’t have any provision for strengthening of transmission line network of Kishtwar / erstwhile Doda District either.

Another forgotten transmission line is 220 KV line from Udhampur to Gladni. Construction of this line was started around 10 years back.

These forgotten lines (on which lot of money has already been spent) could have strengthened the transmission network & provided alternate path for power supply to respective substations for betterment of power supply at consumers end.

Renewable energy:

Throughout the country there has been a thrust for installation of renewable energy. Under National Solar Mission a 100 MW solar power plant was approved to be installed at Kathua in Jammu province in 2015 along with several other solar parks across the country. While the installed capacity of solar power in the country has risen to 36,300 MW by the end of October 2020, J&K has not been able to begin work on a power plant that shall generate a meager 100 MW!! What could be more distressing a situation than this for J&K!!

There is no visible movement in the direction of installing roof based solar power plants either.

In addition to above the possibility of installing solar power plants along the canals in Jammu could also be explored. If Gujarat & several other states can adopt this method of power generation why can’t Jammu?

The country also has an installed capacity of more than 10,000 MW of “Bio-mass/waste to energy” power but J&K has not even started thinking on these lines. Additionally, the country also has an installed capacity of around 38,000 MW of wind power but J&K has not explored the possibility of installing wind power generating plants. In my opinion Shaitani Nallh & several areas in Kishtwar have good potential for wind power generation in Jammu region.

Availability of real time data for power system operation & control:

Around 2012/13 J&KPDD started execution of a state of the art project that entailed installation of optical fiber cable (OPGW) over its transmission lines & corresponding communication equipment at several substations. The project was funded through Prime Minister’s package. The idea was to get real time data from various substations for efficient & real time operation of the state grid. The spare bandwidth available with J&KPDD was slated to be leased out to communication companies / network providers thus bringing in revenue for the department as well.

From the minutes of meeting issued by NRPC dated 20.11.2020 it is understood that data is not available from any of the substations to NRLDC for efficient load dispatch. If it is not available to NRLDC it will surely not be available to state load dispatch centre either. It is also understood that whatever data is available to NRLDC is from central sector network nodes.

It is amazing especially as more than Rs. 50 crores is believed to have already been spent on this very important project but the project has not been taken to its logical conclusion. This project, if faithfully implemented, would have made real time data of various power network nodes & elements of UT of J&K available to the concerned engineers, managers & administrators to take appropriate decisions in real time situation. This would certainly have brought in transparency & efficiency in the system.

Conclusion:

The problems that the consumers face with respect to availability of “quality power” in the Jammu region, is not going to go away very soon as enumerated in the facts above. Situation in summers next year or year thereafter is not going to change much either excepting in some selected areas that carry a VIP tag.

Mild rains & winds will continue to cause breakdown of electricity without fail unless drastic & immediate steps are taken to stem the rot. Distribution strengthening works are certainly going on in several areas but will they be able to improve the situation & at what speed is anybody’s guess!!

Engineers in Jammu will have to show technical stewardship – I am emphasizing this with full responsibility – or else the situation will not improve. This is no pontification.

A walk through Jammu will reveal that even elementary routine maintenance & precautions are not taken by the power utilities. 33 KV, 11 KV, 415 volt power lines are seen to be passing through the foliage & trees almost everywhere. With these conditions, engineers cannot expect a miracle. Tripping or breakdown free system, especially if it rains or there are mild windy conditions cannot be expected under these conditions. Isn’t branch-cutting / pruning of trees one of the elementary requirements to prevent tripping of power lines as they get earthed through “moist” trees & foliage? Such a situation can also endanger lives of humans & cattle that may come in contact with trees during power system fault conditions.

At the same time we should not forget importance of healthy & well graded system protection, so essential for an efficient power network? J&KPDD used to have “Load Dispatch Metering & Testing Division” the task of which was also to periodically test the protection system & provide relay settings & configure them. With substantial expansion of the power system network in the UT of J&K the Division should have been upgraded & more competent staff should have been earmarked for it, but I am given to understand that testing / configuration / grading of protection etc is not considered to be a priority.

As such it needs to be emphasized that there are so many lose ends to be tied in Jammu province as far as electric power network is concerned before it can be ensured that a flawless & efficient power system for the consumers is available. Jammu has to travel a very long way in that direction.