Many states in north India particularly Uttar Pradesh is reeling under severe electricity shortage since 1972. During these years Uttar Pradesh has seen many Governments. These Governments were run by parties like Bhartiya Janta Party; Bahujan Samaj Party; Congress, Samajwadi Party etc. Leaders and ministers of all these parties from time to time and many a times have announced that there will be no shortage of electric power within 3 years. But with each successive year problem is getting severe. Many socio-economic problems have emerged due to electricity shortage. Poor utilization of man and machines, pollution caused by DG Sets and inverters, inconvenience to house wives, spoiling of food in refrigerators, related health problems.
I have been observing the press reports and press briefings of UPPCL during last one year during different seasons like spring, summers, monsoon, fall and winters. All press reports and press briefings of UPPCL explain that due to excessive demand and some or other breakdown there is power shortage.
This year during January the power corporation spokes person said that due to severe winters the demand has gone very high as such cut have been necessitated. Some time due to cold season faults have caused interruption in supply. In February the winters receded and UPPCL was hopeful to revise and curtail power cuts, but the situation remained same.
The spring season came in the month of March. Severe winters gave way to pleasant weather. Neither heaters nor Air Conditioners were needed due to favorable weather. But the power cuts remained more or less same. The generation was said to be low due to lower availability of water in reservoirs.
After the spring season came in the month of April there was no betterment in power supply, although the higher temperatures helped nature to melt more snow in hilly areas. But even with the improved availability of water and the Hydro Power Generation, UPPCL was unable to meet the demand and ensure continuous supply of electric power.
In the months of May, June and July the scheduled and un-scheduled cuts were due to severe heat and the increase in demand and more cuts were enforced.
Whatever, they may say, the reason for all these scheduled and un-scheduled power cuts is one i.e. the deficit of availability of power in comparison to demand.
The question is - what are the answers to meet the ever growing demand of the electric power. What are the short and long term measures that can be adopted to create more generation capacities?
The long term measure of course is to create new and additional power generation capacities be it thermal, hydro, atomic and non conventional. It is sad that adequate power generation stations have not come up during last several years and there are no hopes of new power generation stations getting commissioned in the near future.
The sort term measure is to create diesel/ FO/ LDO/ Natural Gas based power generation capacities in the range of 2 MW to 10 MW at the existing 33/ 11 KV sub stations of UPPCL. To start with this can be started as a pilot project in the sub-stations serving planned commercial areas in the district towns. These 2 MW to 10 MW capacity generating sets can be outsourced from third parties on usage basis. UPPCL need not invest a single pie in generating sets. A few years back there were some Diesel Power Stations run/managed by erstwhile UPSEB. These could not be maintained properly and run efficiently under that management, were closed permanently and later decommissioned and scrapped.
To meet the power Diesel Generating Sets are in use in commercial areas in all the cities - Lucknow, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Moradabad and others. A number of these generating sets are installed in common/ public areas and cause air and noise pollution. The air in these areas is full of exhaust emitted by such generating sets and it becomes difficult to breathe there.
Now a days, in urban areas almost every house hold has inverter. The average cost of a set battery and inverter is more than Rs. 10,000/-. Normally, the batteries carry a warranty of 12 months. The batteries on an average need replacement after about 15 - 18 months and cost of a battery is about Rs. 5,000/-. i.e. about Rs. 275/- per month. If round the clock electric supply is assured people may be asked to pay more. For this purpose UPPCL may lay an additional conductor in target 24/7 power supply areas.
The pollution caused by Inverters and small Generating sets is not yet widely discussed by environmentalists. But it is a growing concern that can cause severe health problems. Inverters like other electronic gadgets create ozone, which reacts with various other commonly found chemicals to produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These agents create a smog (a smog is formed when a plethora of pollutants react in the presence of light). Smog affects the upper respiratory tract of humans and inside the office it is really dangerous. Humans get sick, feel tired, irritable, and have a dry throat or blocked noses or headaches due to unhealthy air in homes/ offices. The situation has not yet switched panic buttons. The home smog is going to soon acquire the attention of environmentalists and scientists.
The pollution caused by lead acid batteries in their life cycle is well known. The pollution is caused at every stage – manufacturing, use and disposal of used batteries. In India the disposal of used batteries is largely in unorganized sector, where workers are totally ignorant about the environment, pollution and their work related health hazards.
Another question comes to my mind is how much petroleum products and power is spent on producing raw materials used to manufacture batteries and inverters. The raw materials are also used for assembly of batteries, inverters, their packing, distribution etc. Similarly for Gensets how much power is spent on producing the raw materials for making engines and alternators and assembly there of. There is a need for energy audit of this important aspect to formulate and design policies to protect environment.
If we look at the total capital invested in Inverters and individual Gensets installed all over the state, it would easily suffice for establishment of similar or larger capacity large power plant.
There are parties who provide power Generation Services. They offer 1-10 MW captive power on Build Own & Operate basis. The capital investment is also looked after by them. I have come across one such party we came across at www.vimalenergy.com.
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