As the capital, Chennai has always remained the hotspot for power managers who struggle to maintain uninterrupted supply. The city’s demand is almost one-fifth of the State’s total demand because of the huge residential, commercial and industrial population.
Whenever the demand reached the highest, unscheduled shutdowns were resorted to in the previous years.
But this year when the city touched the highest demand of 3,778 MW on April 20, against the peak demand of 3,723 MW reached in June last year, the power managers were unfazed by the trend. The reaching of the highest demand in the city reflected in the highest consumption of 84.23 million units on April 21.
A senior official of Tangedco says the demand in the city would peak in the months of May and June during ‘Kathiri’ (Agni Nakshatram). However, the city did not experience any major blackout or even low voltage in any part because of the infrastructure and maintenance work done regularly.
Industry watchers say the major achievement of Tangedco in the city has been the conversion of distribution transformers into Ring Main Units (RMUs); conversion of overhead power lines into underground lines; establishment of seven 33/11-KV GIS substations, incorporated with the latest version of the SCADA system, at prime localities; and establishment of a separate wing to handle cable faults and a separate control centre for monitoring the substations and the feeder networks in Chennai and surrounding areas.
A total of 2,042 RMUs were erected in 28 constituencies in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts at a cost of ₹295.97 crore. They were inaugurated by Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Wednesday.
Some of the prominent constituencies where RMUs have been commissioned included Anna Nagar, Chepauk, Kolathur, Mylapore, Perambur, Royapuram, Virugambakkam, Ambattur, Maduravoyal, Sholinganallur, Pallavaram, Avadi and Sriperumbudur.
