Power outage is expected to end tonight with 80% of repair work done

There is a sigh of relief for Mumbaikars in the parts of Navi Mumbai and Thane who are suffering with the power outage since two, three days. The problem will be resolved by Sunday that is today, 3rd June 2018, midnight. On Friday, the the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL) said that it would take atleast seven days to replace the two transformers in Kalwa that had tripped and where the cause of outage. The work related to the two transformers of cable replacement work is almost completed about 80%

According to TOI, MSETCL public relations officer Milind Awatade said: “We had announced it would take seven days to restore the transformers that were badly burnt in a fire early on Friday. Our team and that of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) have been working overnight on a war footing and hence, we expect to restart the load on the transformer by Sunday midnight. So, by Monday, consumers can expect zero loadshedding .”

On Saturday, 2nd June 2018, in Navi Mumbai the users of MSEDCL faced little issues, while there no loadshedding observed in the Mumbai and Thane.

At Uran gas-based generating station for Mumbai there is a generation of 100MW which is additional, said a source. “This will reduce the shortfall of power that had led to rotational loadshedding on Friday, and will minimise consumer inconvenience,” a senior government official said. On Friday, 1st June 2018, the city suffered around 250-300 MW power shortage. Out of which 100MW was in the island city alone. BEST supplies power to 10.5 lakh consumers in the island city-—from Colaba-Cuffe Parade to Sion-Mahim. On Saturday, 2nd June 2018, the demand was subtle and on Friday, 1st June 2018, there was load shedding for very short time.

“During summer, especially in the first two weeks of June, electricity consumption goes up. We also increase our supply by nearly 15%, especially during weekdays. So supplying power on Monday would be a big challenge. But if the affected transformers at MSETCL Kalva are restored, power cuts could be avoided,” said a BEST official, requesting anonymity.

Further are the comments mentioned in a TOI article with respective officials. A Tata Power spokesperson said, “Tata Power continues to maintain full generation at all hydro plants as also the Trombay Thermal Power station, thus minimizing load-shedding. As the crisis continues, both the plants continue to supply even today at full load to save majority of Mumbaikars from power cuts. Rotational load shedding may continue in some pockets/areas, till the restoration work gets completed.”

Another source said following the tripping of the Kalwa line, Tata Power’s hydro generation at Khopoli, Bhivpuri and Bhira stations picked up from 144MW to 400MW immediately, helping meet the increased demand. “Tata Power maintained full hydro generation of 450 MW throughout the day up to 24 hours. Normally hydro generation is kept at zero in the night hours and is planned only for 8-10 hours during daytime,” an official added.

A Reliance Energy Spokesperson said, “To minimise the inconvenience of Mumbaikars due to MSETCL transmission line tripping, we have ensured that our Dahanu power plant is running at its full capacity of 500MW. We may have to continue rotational loadshedding in few of our areas till normalcy is restored in the grid.”