Sarthak Kanjilall & Vikramaditya
Port Blair, November 24: Several hours long power cuts four to five times a day have become a constant source of discomfort for residents of Garacharma, Prothrapur, New Pahargaon and nearby areas.
The power cuts are so long that even people having inverter are unable to cope up, forget about miseries being faced by people who can’t afford an inverter. Sadly there is no power cut schedule, which makes online classes for students totally impossible in many areas of city.
When Andaman Sheekha contacted the Superintending Engineer, Electricity Department, Er. Ajit Bernard, he said that there is a setting problem with the solar power plant, which usually takes 02-03 months to be rectified. “We call it teething problems,” he said.
“The service engineer of the plant is supposed to come and when he comes we will talk to him and carryout the necessary works,” Er. Bernard said.
However, he briefed the issue saying that the immediate response time of the 20 MW solar plant is less now. When there is bright sunshine the solar power plant generates 20 MW electricity but when cloud comes the supply drops to zero, which shouldn’t happen.
“We have 30 MW Grid and total 30 MW solar plant as well, and sudden drop of 30 MW causes the problem,” said Er. Bernard.
When asked the SE Electricity whether the Solar Plant in South Andaman is a success, he said that they will come to know about it in the coming 10-12 days.
At present South Andaman has 20 MWp Solar Power Plant with Battery at Attampahad and Dollygunj, 5 MW Solar Power Plant at Garacharma and 7 MW roof top power panels, which altogether provides around 32 MW power to the grid.
