By IANS,
Chennai : Tamil Nadu is doing well on the wind power front. The state’s power board is beefing up its wind mill power infrastructure in order to harvest the full potential and plans to sell surplus power to other states at a handsome profit.
Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) will be spending around Rs.2 billion of the total Rs.10 billion budget to strengthen the transmission and distribution (R&D) network in the state this year.
A senior official of the board told IANS on condition of anonymity, “Last year we faced some problems in the windmill power. This will be corrected.”
This apart, the board has got sanction to build a 400kv line from Pugalur near Tiruchirapalli to Sunguvarchattram to evacuate wind power at an outlay of Rs.7 billion, he added.
The total wind power generated in the state was 1,800 MW, the highest ever.
The windmills are beginning to generate sufficient power, and the board is planning to sell some surplus to other states at handsome rates, he said.
With wind power easing the power situation in the state, TNEB has scrapped the industrial holiday.
Though the measure eased the pressure on the board to some extent it had slightly negative effect on its revenues as the industrial units resorted to use of gensets.
This fiscal, TNEB will set up 90 sub stations and lay 1,500 km extra high tension cable as against 54 substations and 1,500 km in FY07.
In Chennai, TNEB will be building two 230/33 kv gas insulated sub stations which will take two years to complete.
In respect of transmission of distribution loss, TNEB’s 18 percent is one of the lowest in the country.
The board plans to reduce it to 15 percent by the end of the XIth Plan (2007-12) period.
However, that would involve heavy outlay as reductions from the current level will be at a slow rate.